A Whirlpool of Chaos
by DragonSummoning
Summary: (Rated M for safety) A secret gets revealed, and with it the chaos begins to engulf the world. Only a Whirlpool can destroy the rotten world and create a bright new one.
1. 01 - Hopes

**A/N: Naruto and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto; the rest is mine. Hope you enjoy this new version.**

 **1 - Hopes**

Lilac eyes looked at the crescent moon in the midnight. Long, silky dark-blue hair waved with the night winds. Tears waved down creamy cheeks as a slim, curvy and kind-of busty female body held a fox plush doll firmly. He had promised that he'd return for this year's summer... yet, it was already the end of autumn, and he didn't show up...

She was sad, discouraged to continue having hopes, a step to becoming all what her father and elders wanted her to be: a chess piece for the Clan's power games. She would never be happy, she would never grow strong, like her little sister or her older cousin...

Suddenly, she looked something that approached the house in the shadows. She pulsed her chakra to her eyes and the veins around them popped out, her eyes turning full-white. When she looked in the direction where the shadow moved, she stood on guard, but then she realized that it wasn't exactly a threat:

"A toad?"

The blue toad approached her and she looked at it with a bit of disgust as it spoke:

"Good night. I take it you're miss Hinata Hyūga, right?"

The toad spoke clearly and with a rather nice, clean alto voice. She smiled and said:

"I am. Who are you, toad?"

"I am Gamaspeed, a messenger toad, and I bring a message to you from lord Jiraiya."

Hinata's eyes fixed on the toad:

"Tell me the message, Gamaspeed, please!"

Half an hour later, Hinata Hyūga was at the office, waiting for the doors to be opened. After a few minutes, they opened, and a dark-haired young woman in a black kimono let her in:

"Miss Hyūga, it's late. I know that the Hokage works late and barely sleeps, but what brings you here?!"

Hinata saluted formally:

"I'm sorry for the lateness of my visit, lady Shizune, but I need to speak to lady Tsunade immediately! It's urgent!"

Shizune knew all the new generations in the Hidden Leaf ninja village, and the Hyūga heiress (or ex-heiress) was particularly a shy and sweet girl, usually timid to talk or to take quick action; yet her reaction was moved by something more, so she simply nodded and let her in. Hinata entered quickly and saluted the busty blond woman who sat on the other side of the Hokage's desk:

"My lady Hokage, I apologize for the lateness, but..."

Hinata had bowed to salute, but as she raised her sight, she noticed that the Hokage was asleep. Shizune got close to her and grabbed a bottle with sake. She opened it and put the bottle in her nose, exasperated, and Tsunade, the Hokage, bolted up immediately:

"I'm not asleep, no, no, now give me tha-"

Tsunade was surprised to listen to the timid giggles from Hinata, who was actually there looking at the rather hilarious scene, and she cleared her throat, taken aback:

"I-I mean, take that bottle away from me, Shizune! Can't you see I'm working now?!" Shizune grunted and left the office, closing the bottle and putting it away from Tsunade's desk: "Good night, miss Hyūga. What brings you here so late?"

Hinata saluted again, this time a short bow, and said:

"Lady Tsunade, I just received a message at home from a messenger toad, sent from lord Jiraiya!"

Tsunade woke up immediately:

"OK, why would that old pervert send a message to someone different than me?"

Hinata spoke carefully:

"Um, mister Gamaspeed said that, um, h-he feared you, my lady..."

Tsunade laughed soundly:

"Hahahahahaha! Now I understand, OK! That sneaky toad still fears me. Well, then, what's the message about?"

Hinata said, serious:

"No one else can listen, my lady."

Tsunade nodded and closed all the doors and windows, then she pulsed her chakra and Hinata could see how a rather large amount of microphones made short circuit. Tsunade nodded and Hinata said:

"Um, lord Jiraiya and Naruto, um, were received in the Hidden Whirlpool village."

Tsunade's eyes opened up like dishes:

"You said what?!" Hinata nodded: "But, the Hidden Whirlpool village is no more than debris! It has been abandoned since the Second Great Ninja War, a ghost town!" Hinata nodded again: "Did he send any evidence that can confirm this information?"

Hinata, ashamed, said:

"Um, he did, but he a-asked me not to show you but privately, my lady."

Hinata simply revealed a small scroll with a dark blue wax seal. Tsunade saw it and her eyes couldn't believe it:

"The Uzumaki seal..." Tsunade took the scroll, opened it and read it: "It is a handwriting I actually recognize... his g-grandfather..."

Hinata couldn't understand the shock in Tsunade's expression as she read the scroll. She saw the Hokage make a hand sign and an ANBU agent with a raven mask appeared. Tsunade returned the scroll to Hinata and said:

"Raven, take miss Hyūga and team 10 to these coordinates. Once they're safe, head to these other coordinates. You're leaving immediately; I'll meet you in the gates."

Raven got close to Hinata and both young ladies disappeared in a smoke cloud.

As twenty minutes passed, Hinata and Raven were at the gates, along with a rather sleepy team 10. Shikamaru complained:

"What's wrong with the old lady? It's midnight!"

Ino was too busy fixing her face with makeup while Chōji ate chips. Tsunade herself opened the gates and said:

"Hinata Hyūga, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Chōji Akimichi, Tsuki Uchiha, you must listen to this before anything. The Hidden Whirlpool village is no myth, it is real, and it is more active than any other village in these lands. Hinata, please, read the scroll."

Hinata drew the sealed scroll and said:

"Um, 'To the lady Tsunade Senju, fifth Hokage from the Hidden Leaf Village. Hoping that you'll honor the alliance our grandparents did eighty five years ago, I, Gendō Uzumaki, 163rd Uzukage from the Hidden Whirlpool Village, have discovered that there are certain individuals from the clans Nara, Hyūga, Yamanaka, Uchiha and Akimichi that have the genes of the original Clans, so we ask you gently to send them to us, so they can receive the proper training for the times to come. Thanks in advance; they will be better treated than how my daughter Kushina was over there. Her son is with us, he's among family.' T-that's all."

Tsunade said:

"From this day on, you're no more Leaf ninjas, kids. If the Hidden Whirlpool demands your presence there, it means that this is serious."

Ino nodded, and both Shikamaru and Chōji looked at each other. Hinata and Raven took off the headband and the mask, respectively. The rest did it a few seconds later. Tsunade said:

"This is farewell, kids. Let's move. I'll take care of explaining the rest of the people about your departure." She looked at Shikamaru and said: "Temari of the Desert is a strong young woman; she will build her own life and not feel sorry about you; she's like me." She then looked at Hinata: "Do not worry. If your father and family won't understand and begin searching for you, then I think that the Whirlpool will protect you and teach you how to protect yourself from them."

Shikamaru and Hinata nodded and bid farewell to Tsunade Senju, fifth Hokage, following the young Uchiha girl into the woods, far to the northeast.

End of Episode 1


	2. 02 - Reactions

02 - Reactions

Hiashi Hyūga woke up with the sunrise, looking at the red sun. It had something different, something that he couldn't recognize, but something that could actually mean trouble. Concerned, he stepped out of his rather spartan room and found himself with three branch family guards:

"Lord Hiashi!! Lady Hinata is gone!!

Hiashi bolted up to Hinata's room, upset and concerned, finding it neatly ordered, yet empty. When he reached Hanabi's room, she found his 12-year-old younger daughter asleep. Hiashi looked at the three branch guards and beat them with his Soft Fists, leaving them on the ground, pained.

Suddenly, the Hyūga patriarch was at the Hokage's office, his 'undisturbable mask' broken in pieces as he was fuming with rage:

"Lady Senjū, I come to report my daughter's disappearance!"

Tsunade, already knowing the character in front of her, asked:

"Hanabi is fine, lord Hiashi."

Hiashi shook his head:

"I'm not talking about Hanabi!"

"Then you shouldn't be worried; so far you have demonstrated to have no more offspring."

Hiashi, his face red of anger, slammed the desk with a chakra-charged palm:

"I'M TALKING ABOUT HINATA, LADY SENJŪ!!!"

Tsunade said:

"You talk about the weakling disgrace you always shun from family meetings and training?"

Hiashi said:

"She was about to fulfill a very important mission for the Clan!"

Tsunade asked:

"Really? What mission?"

Hiashi was reluctant to talk:

"No one must know the Clan's decisions on its inner or outer affairs..."

Tsunade grabbed Hiashi's wrist with incredible speed, surprising him as his wrist began to crack under her hand's pressure:

"I know everything that's on your mind, as you're a lot simpler than what you think, Hiashi Hyūga! You were about to brand Hinata with the Caged Bird Seal and marry her to a stupid guy from a Clan of the Hidden Grass Village! You certainly don't love her!"

Hiashi, both in deep pain and in a hurricane of emotions, slammed his other hand against Tsunade's arm, hurting her and letting go of her grip:

"I'm saving her life by taking her to the safest village in the whole land! I'm showing her my love by- nngh!! -by demonstrating her that I care about her integrity!"

Hiashi kneeled down and began to cry sour tears, while Tsunade began healing her left forearm. She was lucky that he didn't use the Eight Trigrams on her, now that she thought about it. Yet, as she kept healing herself, she got close to him and said:

"Lord Hyūga, did you know that the Hidden Grass Village is a ghost town since two decades ago?" Hiashi's eyes opened wide: "A ninja called Hidan made a pact with a Death God called Jashin and offered the whole town as a sacrifice in exchange for immortality. That was twenty years ago, and since then, the only man living there is him, while he has nothing to do for his new friends: the ninja sect of the Red Dawn! You were sending Hinata to her death!"

Hiashi was petrified, shocked, tears rolling down his face. Tsunade then opened a small vault she had beside her desk and drew a small letter, which had the Hyūga seal, but sealed with blue wax:

"In order to know your older daughter better, so as your wife and your own Clan, I'll show you something that might open your 'all-seeing' blind eyes."

Hiashi saw how Tsunade stood up from her desk and kneeled beside him, healing his wrist as she gave him the scroll:

"What's this, my lady?"

"Just open it; you'll recognize it easily, if you still have some heart in you..."

Hiashi opened the scroll and broke in heavier, darker and numerous tears as he recognized the handwriting:

"No... t-this cannot be..."

"Just read it loudly; I want to hear it too..."

Hiashi said, reading between sobs:

"Lord Sarutobi, I'm afraid this will be my last letter, and I'm sad that it's directed to you and not to my own husband... He's so obsessed with pleasing the clan elders that he cannot see the damage they're doing to us as a family... They keep him busy as they poison me, I'm positive that it's desert scorpion's poison, and they make sure that Hinata feels like... like a constant burden, as someone weak, and they are convincing Hiashi to push her beyond limits she cannot cross... I always tell him that he cannot measure a fish's intellect on its capability to climb a tree, and that's how Hinata feels, because she's not like him, but like me... a Whirlpool Hyūga, and I know the elders know that, and fear her... Lord Hokage, please, take care of Hinata, and don't let her father and Clan elders break her, as I'll die soon... Hina Hyūga"

Hiashi Hyūga, for the very first time in years, could picture his wife in his head, as if he had already forgotten her, or worse, as if she was ripped out of his memories. He then looked at Tsunade and said:

"Why... why wasn't I informed of this, my wife's last will?"

Tsunade simply finished healing his wrist and said:

"Hinata is being sent back to the land of of her mother's ancestors, and you will protect her from here. No one can learn of her whereabouts, or you will pay for that personally, and I'm quite sure that miss Anko will have some good fun cracking you. Yet, I think you have something more important to solve, am I right?"

Hiashi nodded and left, bowing respectfully towards her, taking the last will of his wife with him. Tsunade smiled:

"Give her a few years and you'll see the results. You'll be extra proud of her."

The Hyūga's main lineage elders woke up, ready for another meeting, their own businesses in mind, and they gathered slowly, chatting nonsense and walking towards the conference hall they had in the Hyūga manor. Many of them were old enough to need a cane for walking, but surely they could fight if the situation needed it. When they entered the hall, they met a rabid, strong and powerful Hiashi, waiting for them inside, standing on his feet, the White Eyes filled with amounts of chakra that scared the elders:

"Hiashi, what are you doing here-"

Hiashi didn't give them any time to react, moving like the wind. Suddenly, the seven elders were on the ground, heavily wounded, some of them spitting blood and with broken bones, all of them with their chakra circulation system blocked:

"What... nngh, what's this t-treason?!"

Hiashi took a flask from his pocket, which surprised the major elder, a man called Heihachi Hyūga:

"That's... that's mine! Who gave you permission to- nngh! -to g-grab my stuff?!"

Hiashi replied, revealing the letter from his wife:

"You bastards poisoned her!! YOU BASTARDS KILLED HINA!!!"

Another elder replied, both with pain and venom:

"Y-Yes, we did it! She was a bad... influence for you, for us, for the whole Clan!"

Hiashi kicked the second elder's face, breaking his neck out of it. He then said:

"She was right; you're all wicked and cursed! I don't know why I should listen to you anymore!"

Heihachi replied:

"You need us, Hiashi! If we die, the secondary branch of the Clan will revolt and overthrow you!"

Hiashi looked at him and replied:

"That's a lie! You need me to maintain your status and your master-slave system! You're of no need to the Clan!"

Heihachi tried to beg for his life, but Hiashi finished his life with a Soft Fist on his forehead. One by one, the rest of the elders suffered the same fate, and Hiashi, once he finished, his eyes still infused with chakra, saw the beautiful image of his wife, floating in the middle of the hall:

"Hina!!"

"Thank you, Hiashi... now I can rest in peace... hope it's not too late for Hinata..."

Hiashi said:

"She's going to your home, my love; please protect her, because I couldn't..."

Hina smiled:

"She'll do fine on her own; else, she will find someone who can protect her better than me. Please, live your life, and become a father your girls can be proud of... I will always love you..."

With those words, Hina disappeared.

End of chapter 2


	3. 03 - Whirlpools

03 - Whirlpools

"The Hidden Whirlpool Village... what the hell?"

It was still a huge motive of doubt for the members of Team 10 everything they had been told. Tsuki Uchiha, a very attractive young lady with long, raven-colored hair and pitch-black eyes who wore a long-sleeved, dark-green tight minidress, gray knee-high zori and gloves, simply looked at them and said:

"You seem doubtful, don't you?"

Shikamaru looked at her, noticing that she was their age, yet she already had the killer intent of an ANBU agent:

"Well, certainly we do. We're being taken away from our homes and our lives, we're organized in a rather curious team, we're being led to a place that has been abandoned for decades, and we're being led by an Uchiha, whose alleged only survivors are Sasuke and Itachi... this all seems too suspicious..."

Tsuki smiled at him, a smile that actually made him blush:

"I would suspect as well, actually, but you got nothing to worry about; Itachi will be waiting for us, and I'll go along with him to find Sasuke."

Ino's eyes opened wide in shock:

"Sasuke?! But, isn't he under Orochimaru's control?"

Tsuki laughed at those words, a rather merry laugh:

"No, my friend; he went there out of free will, as much as it hurts me to accept it as well, and now Itachi and I are the only ones capable of driving him out of there; we still don't know at what cost..."

Tsuki turned melancholic when talking about Sasuke, and Ino noticed it. Shikamaru scoffed and Choji didn't pay much attention. Hinata, on the other side, ran ahead, looking forward, fully focused on the road ahead. A rather amused Tsuki looked at her and approached her:

"Um, Hinata Hyūga, you seem quite eager to reach our destination." Hinata simply nodded, serious: "But, don't you ever fear the possibility of never coming back? Don't you have anyone who might be missing you, your family, perhaps?"

Hinata simply closed her eyes, shed a tear and replied with serious voice:

"I won't be missed in the Leaf..."

Tsuki looked at her and said:

"You're all out to meet Naruto, aren't you?" Hinata blushed deep red, but she nodded: "Then, if you're certain about this, then I'll help you when we camp for lunch."

In the Hyūga manor, Hiashi Hyūga cried sour tears, lying in Hinata's bed, as he had a letter and a diary in his hands. He couldn't believe how much his older daughter suffered because of him and the elders; he couldn't believe how deeply she resented him and his younger daughter, how deeply she longed to do things right and barely achieve a small approval from him... He could see everything in her diary: she wasn't just meant to learn the Leaf Hyūga's arts, her body and soul required other methods and other knowledges, those his wife had...

Suddenly, a young female voice spoke behind him, quite cold:

"Did you at least brand her, as you should?"

Hanabi was a proud, talented and spoiled 12-year-old girl, and everyone praised her, which actually inflated her ego. She was actually proud of her actual skills, and she tended to feel quite invincible, yet the next thing that would happen would actually be completely unexpected for her...

Hiashi moved like a blaze, slaping her face so hard that made her fall to the ground:

"Father!!"

Hiashi, out of wrath, yelled at her, his emotions flowing like a raging pack of wolves over a helpless deer:

"Don't you ever talk like that of your sister, Hanabi!! EVER!!!"

Hanabi was shocked. For the first time ever, Hiashi Hyūga, the strong and obedient patriarch of the noble clan Hyūga, had decided to stand up for the weakest of his daughters, going up against the will of the Clan's elders and against the traditions of the family. She tried to stand up, but Hiashi kicked her gut:

"Stay put, girl!!" Hanabi didn't know what to do, or how to react, yet she tried to contain herself, just like she had been taught to do: "Your mother is dead and your sister is gone thanks to this Clan's wicked traditions! Our family is divided and hates each other because of those wicked traditions! We don't become any more powerful because of our wicked traditions!"

Hanabi, scared, truly scared for the very first time in her life, didn't know what to do. Seeing her father act like that towards her cracked her on the inside, and for the first time she felt the strength of the punishment for a wrong act:

"Father! I'm sorry if I offended you-"

"SHUT UP!!!" Hiashi was completely out of his mind: "Now you see what Hinata had to suffer for life; how do you feel, Hanabi?"

Hanabi began to cry, scared, hiding in a cornr of Hinata's room, as far away as possible from him:

"Father, y-you scare me!"

Hiashi nodded:

"You sense the fear, don't you?" Hanabi nodded: "Hinata had to live i constant fear, because we, those who were meant to protect and help her, actually dedicated ourselves to sink her deeper in her fears!"

Hanabi hid her face from him, as she didn't want to look him in the eyes:

"Father!"

Hiashi gave her no time to react:

"I want you to learn how your sister lived in here! I want you to learn how she lived out there! I want you to learn how to appreciate someone who loved you and who you'll probably never see again!"

Hanabi began to cry. Certainly, Hinata would never return to that compound, or to the village, at all. Hiashi saw her cry and said:

"Good, you can actually feel." Hanabi's tears didn't seem to move him: "Now, this fear and this pain you feel, I want you to keep them deep in your heart, because if you attune to it, you'll perceive it all along the Hyūga compound, especially on the secondary branch's side! Do you believe this is fair?!"

Hanabi was about to recite the teachings that the elders gave her every day, but her gut moved her to act otherwise:

"No, sir, it isn't!"

"Good! Now, in order for you to learn what truly means being a heiress of the Hyūga, then you'll meet me in the dojo tomorrow at sunset! Am I clear?!"

Hanabi was terrified, yet she nodded:

"Good. I'll meet you there!"

Hanabi left the scene, terrified, and Hiashi returned to his sad spiral, crying again in Hinata's bed. Behind him, the one who watched everything was shocked as hell, and Hiashi called him:

"Neji, wait." A scared Neji froze on his tracks; after all, Hiashi was still a powerful man: "Help me here."

In a camp, right in the woods of the Fire Country, the five teenagers camped. Shikamaru and Choji were eating together as Ino watched Hinata's tent:

"Guys, I wonder what's Hinata doing in there..."

Shikamaru simply looked at the tent and said:

"I guess she just wants her privacy, Ino. Leave her be."

Ino shook her head and decided to get close to the tent when Tsuki intercepted her:

"Curiosity killed the kitten, gossip queen... if I were you, I would wait here."

Tsuki's voice promised death, even in her merry tone, so Ino returned to her team, scared and taken aback.

Hinata waited on her tent until Tsuki entered:

"Um, miss Tsuki?"

Tsuki smiled and nodded:

"Are you ready, Hinata?" Hinata nodded, and Tsuki made hand signs, her eyes turning blue: "Prepare to die to this world. Close your eyes and take a deep breath..."

Hinata breathed deep, and then she exhaled, just like Tsuki commanded her. Then, a second time, but this time it cost her a lot more. Finally, a third time, and she began to feel so heavy that she couldn't maintain herself on her own. She was weaker every moment...

"Open your eyes now, Hinata, and welcome."

Hinata opend her eyes and was greatly surprised with that she saw in front of her:

"Naruto!!"

End of chapter 3.


	4. 04 - Changes

**04 - Changes**

Hanabi was at the Hyūga dōjo, nervous, not knowing what her father was thinking with this. As he arrived, she saw how Hiashi arrived alone, no main branch elders. _'What just happened... and the elders?'_ On the other side, Neji arrived with the secondary branch elders and Clan members, entering the dojo through the secondary door, as the norms said. When Hiashi sat down, he said, his pristine face matching with a strong voice:

"We begin today's training. Neji, step forward."

Neji, still not knowing what was happening, stood forward, beside Hanabi. He saluted with a reverence to him and then to her. Hiashi said:

"Begin the combat."

Hanabi saluted and prepared her stance, and when Neji stood on his own, Hiashi commanded:

"Neji, give her the treatment you gave Hinata on her first Chūnin exam! It's an order!"

Neji, intimidated by this command, didn't know how to react. Hanabi was Hiashi's favorite daughter, but after yesterday's scene, he didn't know anymore what was on his mind. He gulped, but then Hiashi stood up:

"Will you disobey a direct order, Neji Hyūga?"

Hiashi was serious, and he rarely used that stern tone idly. Neji had no other choice: he had to make Hanabi suffer, and a lot. Remembering everything he did to Hinata in the past wasn't pleasant, even less when he already learned to appreciate and love her disappeared cousin; but Hiashi could hurt him deeply if he didn't comply, so, for his own sake, Hanabi had to suffer.

"Begin!!"

Hinata couldn't believe that Naruto was standing before her, and that he was actually happy to see her:

"Hinata, you came!

Hinata still couldn't believe she had Naruto in front of her, talking to her, interested in her. This had to be some sort of deception, so she pulsed chakra on her eyes. There she could see those two colors she loved so much: natural blue in his heart and supernatural red in his gut. _'It's him!!'_

"Um, Na-Naruto, where are we?! A-are we, um, d-dead?"

Naruto chuckled and scratched his hair:

"Well, it's kind of unclear to me yet. Perhaps my gramps can explain it better."

Hinata loved how Naruto could always keep a smile on his face, no matter the situation. She actually loved his smile, as it gave her confidence. She actually decided to speak her heart out:

"I, um, I-I was waiting for you, there at the Leaf..."

Naruto blushed at these words, something that surprised Hinata:

"Really?" Hinata nodded, eye-smiling: "Wow... I..."

Hanabi was on her own feet, beaten up, and on the other side, an also beaten-up Neji kept his stance. Hiashi had seen the fight so far and demanded:

"Neji! More ferocity! Now!"

Neji couldn't stop, as Hiashi had already placed his hand in the hand sign that activated the Caged Bird seal. Hanabi was scared again, as much as Neji was, but seeing how he focused again in combat made her try and endure more... yet, she didn't have enough fuel in her soul, and Neji attacked her with his hardest attacks, ending up on her knees, beaten up.

Hiashi made a sign for a tired and still confused Neji to get close to him, all while a beaten-up Hanabi watched. Hiashi made hand signs and slammed the teenager's forehead with his index and middle fingertips. Neji felt a rush of chakra to his head, and he began coughing and vomiting a black liquid, until he could recover his breath, and then Hiashi said:

"Neji Hyūga, welcome to the Clan Hyūga."

Hiashi allowed Neji to look at a mirror in the dōjo, and the young Hyūga noticed two things: his vision was enhanced, and the Caged Bird seal was gone for good. He didn't know what to say or do, he just kneeled and bowed in reverence to the Hyūga Patriarch, but Hiashi just said:

"No more differences between our family. Fear led us to planting these seals, and fear made us weak."

The secondary branch members bowed before Hiashi, and Hanabi didn't know what to say or do, until Hiashi claimed:

"Hanabi, stand up. Your training continues until every single Hyūga has fought against you. Who's next?"

Hanabi claimed:

"Father! You're treating me like Hinata!!"

"Shut up and fight! Masahiro Hyūga, you're next!"

Naruto walked beside Hinata, watching how the clueless Team 10 followed Tsuki towards their destination:

"C-Can't they see us, Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head, a mischievous smile mixed with a small pink tint on his cheeks:

"I could kiss you right now and no one would ever notice it, Hinata!"

Hinata blushed red-wine, her stuttering returning and her faint spell about to happen, when she was covered by his arms and kept on her feet. The blush didn't lower a single degree, but his words soothed her:

"I was just joking, Hinata! I'm not going to kiss you!" This actually disappointed her a lot, and Naruto corrected, realizing his error: "Well, at least until you want me to-"

Hinata closed her eyes and instinctively reached his lips with hers. Naruto blushed, yet the sensation of that kiss was something that not even Jiraiya's smut novels would ever describe accurately. If it were for him, he'd stay there forever, even when he didn't actually expect this to happen with her, instead with a certain pinkette... but this was real, honest and full of intention and feelings, and he appreciated it by slowly letting go of her and looking deep in her lilac eyes:

"Wow... this... this was new for me... a-and I, um, I liked it..."

Hinata was in bliss, and she smiled, her blush lowering a little as she said:

"I-I've been waiting... my whole life, Naruto, um, t-to do this... and it was even better than what I imagined..."

Both kids parted the hug and looked at each other. Perhaps this could work, perhaps not, but at least she would try it, and Naruto would try it as well...

Hanabi was already tired, and seventeen Hyūga ninjas from the secondary family were beside Neji, their foreheads clean. As Hiashi saluted them and gave them a rather calm nod, he turned to Hanabi and said:

"Return to your room, Hanabi; we'll talk later."

A tired and upset Hanabi stood up and left without even saluting, and Hiashi simply looked at her. He then said to the rest of the Clan:

"I have killed the main branch elders, and now I have killed the secondary branch of the family. I am putting my trust in all of you, as Patriarch of this Clan, in order to bring more strength to the family; I truly hope you won't disappoint me, as I'll also put my greatest efforts into not disappointing you."

Everyone kneeled and bowed down in a thanking gesture, and a rather serious Neji said:

"We'll keep working for the sake of the Clan, and if any member steps out of the line, I'll gouge its eyes out."

Hiashi nodded and dismissdd everyone, who actually felt a lot of less weight and anger over their shoulders. Then, he left to Hanabi's room, and noticed that she was about to leave, escaping through the room's window. He ran to the room and grabbed her backpack, pulling her back into the room:

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Hanabi, out of fear and wrath, replied:

"I'm not tolerating this humiliation anymore!! I'm not such a disgrace! I'm not Hinata!!"

Hiashi slapped her face with the back of his hand, throwing her to the floor:

"At least Hinata was strong enough to endure all the punishment we gave her and keep a smiling face the next day, efen if it wasn't meant for us!" Hanabi's eyes opened wide, even while crying: "At least Hinata was capable of offering her services to the Clan members and care about every single one of our needs! At least Hinata could find happiness in her most miserable moments, and find relief for her pain without losing her faith on us! At least Hinata was a decent heiress!!"

Hanabi asked, cracked:

"But, she was shy, weak, coward, helpless, simply hopeless! Why is she better than me now, all of a sudden?!"

Hiashi stood in front of her and said:

"A good Clan leader isn't the one who is the strongest in it, or the most skilled, or the most ambitious, the bravest or the smartest one! Judging a Clan leader by these traits is not only unfair, also it is useless!"

Hanabi replied with wrath:

"Then the elders who chose you as patriarch of the Hyūga were wrong by choosing you!!"

Hiashi was calming down:

"Perhaps, but now the elders aren't alive to regret their choice anymore, and they're not here to oppose the vision I've got about the subject." Hanabi was about to claim when Hiashi continued: "I might recite you the stories of every single Hyūga patriarch so far until the one who imposed the Caged Bird Seal as an obligation of the Clan, but it might be useless. So, I will just resume everything with these words. A true Clan leader isn't the strongest one, but the one who is willing to always put his strength in service of the Clan. A true Clan leader isn't the most skilled one, but the one who is willing to offer whatever few skills he might have in service of the Clan. A true Clan leader isn't the most ambitious one, but the one who is willing to conciliate his clanmates' ambitions and needs for the Clan's sake. A true Clan leader isn't the bravest one, but the one whp can swallow his fears and stand still when the Clan needs it. A true Clan leader isn't the smartest one, but the one who can accept assistance from his clanmates and offer wisdom and virtue."

Hanabi was confused; after all, Hiashi himself was the one who actually asked her to always search for perfection, and now he asked her to be like Hinata, the most imperfect Hyūga in the Leaf's history:

"You're asking me to become... weak, Father..."

Hiashi looked at her and said, disappointed:

"I should have known that you wouldn't know that. If you cannot truly understand my predicament in a year, I will name Neji as my successor."

Hanabi was upset with this, but Hiashi left the room, and before closing the door, allowing her to see him shed a tear, he said:

"Hinata cried in loneliness, suffered and endured beberating and humiliation for a whole decade, yet she never ran away from danger and always faced every situation, even if she knew she would lose. That's why I still considered her as my heiress until now. Good night."

End of chapter 4


	5. 05 - Secret Place

**05 - Secret Place**

Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji arrived to a bridge that led to an abandoned island, while Tsuki simply stretched herself with a degree of joy:

"Well, we arrived, guys!"

Chouji asked, kind of bothered:

"This place is in ruins, Tsuki Uchiha! There's no way there are any people in there!"

Ino looked around and asked:

"We're kind of in an isolated place! We could easily be killed in here!"

Suddenly, a deep male voice replied behind them:

"It is, miss Yamanaka, certainly..."

When Team 10 turned around, they all saw the almighty figure of Itachi Uchiha, who looked at them with a death glare. Shikamaru made hand signs and tried to capture his shadow, while Chouji's hands grew in size and were thrown at Itachi, and a scared Ino was petrified. Itachi's figure vanished into lots of ravens, rendering all the attacks useless:

"I am not your enemy, kids." Everyone was shocked, as the voice could be heard all around: "Listen to me, please."

No one stayed really calm; after all, Itachi was a rogue ninja, a member of the Red Dawn organization, and the cause that made Sasuke become a rogue ninja as well. Itachi was also known for being a genius, an ANBU at his 13 years before he became rogue, and in general a dangerous man. Shikamaru asked:

"What do you want, rogue Uchiha?!"

Itachi spoke calmly:

"I want nothing from you, guys. I'm here to get you into the Hidden Whirlpool Village."

Ino asked, upset:

"You talk too much! How can we know you're not here to kill us?!"

Itachi reunited again and replied:

"Indeed, I'm here to kill you; that's the only way to get into the Hidden Whirlpool Village."

The three members of Team 10 stood on guard, and Tsuki also turned against them:

"Hinata already did, and she's heading there as we speak."

Both Itachi and Tsuki's eyes turned cerulean, with three dots in them. Shikamaru was particularly surprised by this. _'Weren't the Stealing Eyes red? What's this?'_ Itachi moved like the wind, getting close to him, and said:

"You're the smartest one, and the most skeptic one as well. You'll be the first."

Shikamaru couldn't do a single move, as Itachi's cerulean eyes locked on his small ones. Suddenly, they acquired the triangular form of his Kaleidoscope, but instead of black and red, it was white and blue. Suddenly, Shikamaru felt how his life faded away slowly, and then Itachi touched his forehead, pulsing a rather stinging chakra surge between his eyes. Ino and Chouji saw him fall, pale, and then saw him disappear:

"W-What?!! Shikamaru!! No!!"

Ino began to try and run away, but Tsuki captured her and looked at her eyes deeply. Ino began to feel the same, and Itachi began to do the same with Chouji. Eventually, the two youngsters weakened, fell and fainted.

When Shikamaru opened his eyes, he found himself in a rather colorful version of the same place, but there were several differences. The first one was that the ruins were no more ruins, instead there was a wonderfully and strategically crafted hidden ninja village on a large island. The second one: the rather calm sea that surrounded the ruins now was a large mass of water that formed furious, huge whirlpools, and only a 500-meter wooden bridge joined the island and the solid ground. The third one: two smiling characters looked at him, handheld:

"Hey, Shikamaru! Can you see us?!"

A dumbstruck Shikamaru opened his eyez, not believing that both Naruto and Hinata were there. He tried to pulse chakra through his whole body, but it did nothing: they were still there. _'They're no illusions...'_ He asked, nervous:

"What kind of game is this?! Who are you?!"

Naruto replied:

"What? Can't you recognize an old friend?"

Shikamaru stood up, on guard, and said:

"If you are an 'old friend', then tell me what we did in our childhood."

Hinata was a bit upset, due to Shikamaru's mistrust, but Naruto simply replied:

"We did a lot of things in our childhood, but perhaps you might ask before or during our time in the Leaf ninja academy?"

Shikamaru looked at Naruto's expression, turning serious. He then saw how Hinata grabbed his arm and said:

"Tell me what we did two years before entering the ninja academy."

Naruto didn't exactly like to remember those times, in which he had to fight against the two threats to his life: the angry mob of the Leaf villagers and the Nine-Tailed Fox sealed in his soul. Also, his achievements in the matter of making people see him for himself and not for the Fox worked for him as a way to block his past memories, but now Shikamaru demanded him to open his own Pandora's box:

"You... you threw stones at me, along with Chouji and Kiba, while I fled from the mob of alleged supporters of the deceased Fourth Hokage..." Naruto felt the Fox stirring in his gut as he felt his emotions turn out of control: "...you yelled at me... calling me 'demon', 'beast', ''murderer'..."

Hinata hugged Naruto to try abd calm him down, but Shikamaru demanded:

"What did you do to us that night?!"

Naruto's eyes turned red and slit:

"You threw stones at me and I... I..." Naruti began shrugging his face: "I ran and tackled you with claws and teeth, red chakra and bloodlust..." Naruto's voice began to include the deep, raspy and terrifying voice of Kurama, the Nine-Tailed fox: "...you wanted my death, and I wanted your deaths, so we were in equal conditions, and I had the upper hand, but this stupid brat stopped me from killing you fools!!"

Shikamaru seemed to be satisfied with the answer, but the response from Hinata was painful enough, as she used her Eight Trigrams on him, and both Ino and Chouji appeared to see an angry and concerned Hinata and a possessed Naruto. Suddenly, both Tsuki and Itachi appeared and began to use their Stealing Eyes on the possessed child, and then, after a few minutes, Naruto returned to his natural state, fainted, while Itachi and Tsuki fell on their knees, a stinging headache attacking them. Tsuki turned to Shikamaru and asked, upset:

"Why the hell did you have to do that question?! Are you crazy?!"

A pained Shikamaru said, still serious:

"Naruto hates to remember his past, especially his times before the ninja academy. The only way to confirm it was him was to awaken his inner beast."

"Righteous, but you awakened Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox!! You wanted to kill us!!"

Shikamaru lowered his head and Hinata hit a chakra node on Shikamaru's chest, running after that to attend Naruto, while the scared Ino and Chouji simply fell on their knees, understanding things about Naruto and the plane they just entered. An upset Tsuki replied:

"Great, you haven't arrived and you almost put the Hidden Whirlpool Village in danger! Let's move!"

Team 10 lowered their heads and stood up, while Hinata and Itachi carried Naruto and Tsuki stepped ahead, standing in front of the bridge. Two ninjas dressed in dark blue with black Chūnin vest and headbands with a whirlpool symbol appeared and demanded:

"Stop right there."

Tsuki and Itachi nodded and drew headbands with whirlpool symbols in them, and then awakened Naruto, who did the same. Itachi said:

"Itachi and Tsuki Uchiha, both Whirlpool Jounin, and Naruto Uzumaki, Whirlpool Genin, returning after fulfilling the mission of retrieving these four ninjas from the Hidden Leaf, as lord Uzukage demanded."

The guards seemed serious and dry:

"Names."

Naruto looked at Itachi and he nodded at him:

"These are my friends, requested by my gramps: Hinata Hyūga, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Chouji Akimichi."

The two ninjas looked at the newcomers and said:

"Well, you stay there." Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji received a sudden punch that made them faint, onky hearing before fainting: "Ok, let's go."

End of chapter 5.


	6. 06 - Living Places

**06 - Living Places**

As Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji and Hinata opened their eyes, they found themselves in a rather large, round office placed in what seemed to be the top of a lighthouse. Naruto looked around, finding a really hot blond lady who wore a tight red minidress, red lipstick and black half-thigh-high boots. Shikamaru and Chouji looked at her and blushed deep-red, trying to avoid a nosebleed, but Itachi cleared his throat and the two Chūnin turned their faces back to the desk that was in front of them, where a man with red hair and beard watched them:

"So, these are the kids from the Leaf..."

Naruto bowed carefully, which surprised Hinata:

"Yes, gramps. These are Hinata Hyūga, Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara."

The rather old and strong man looked at them, one by one, and his gaze actually was heavy, making Hinata tremble and stutter of deep fear, remembering the old times in her Clan. Ino felt uncomfortable, while Chouji felt his hands moving into his pockets, and a defying Shikamaru stood still, trying to read the old man. He then said:

"Intellect and senses are important to a ninja, but they work for nothing without intuition and gut..."

Shikamaru hadn't realized that the old man stopped being in front of him and two kunai daggers were quickly felt in his neck:

"But, how? When?"

The old man put his dagger back in his pocket, while the hot blond lady returned to her desk. As he got close to Chouji, he showed him two packs of potato chips:

"A balanced diet mixed with the ninja workout can make you faster, more perceptive and smarter."

He then looked at Ino and said:

"Focusing on first impressions can make you lose sight of your true self self, and also can make you a victim of killer intent, disguises, lack of courage and of self-esteem."

Finally, he stood in front of a fearful Hinata:

"Don't hide your fear, use it as your weapon instead; you're smart and skilled, but self-esteem is more important than any of that."

The four kids felt like an open book in front of that old yet strong and healthy man. Naruto said:

"What do you make of them, gramps?"

"You kids were Genin when you were brought here? Because even a Whirlpool Genin can be stronger than you four together."

Ino was about to reply out of rage but Hinata said:

"I've, um, I-I've been weak my entire life... I... I don't want that anymore, lord..."

The old man smiled mischievously, just like an old, redhead Naruto:

"I'm sorry; guess I was lacking of proper protocol..."

The hot blond lady said, a mischievous smirk in her face:

"As usual, my lord."

The old man laughed soundly as she giggled and Naruto kind of chuckled, yet the rest seemed uncomfortable:

"Hi, I am Gendou Uzumaki, the 163rd Uzukage of the Hidden Whirlpool Village. The beautiful lady in the desk is my wife, Aiko, and you're in my office."

The quartet saluted with a reverence, still not knowing what to think about the Whirlpool's military dictator. Naruto asked:

"Shall I take them to their new homes, gramps?"

"Yes, kid. The Clans will want to meet them and put them in shape quickly."

Naruto bowed and the rest did the same. Once they all left, Gendou looked at the sexy Aiko and said, a smirk on his face:

"These kids don't have a clue, am I right, my dear?"

Aiko nodded, eye-smiling:

"I'm sure they'll get accustomed really quickly; they all seem to have powerful willpower, but need to channel it better."

Gendou said:

"Maybe you're right. Unluckily for them, they don't even make it to Genin, according to our standards. But perhaps in a year?"

Aiko stood up and got close to him:

"Yes. We still need the Uchiha kid; he has great potential, just as his brother and his cousin."

As Aiko sat on Gendou's lap, caressing his face softly, he said:

"We don't have much time to prepare these kids, so as our own. Every single Clan and Ninja of ours must be ready for the Singularity, as it'll happen soon."

Aiko was gently moved by Gendou, facing him while still sitting on his lap:

"Yes, it will, but let's not worry about it now, my love."

Even for being in a rather small island, the village was large, even larger than the Leaf. Shikamaru couldn't believe it at all:

"This must be some kind of illusion or anomaly. This village is too large for the island it covers."

Naruto laughed:

"It's weird, isn't it?" As they arrived to a large compound, a bronze gate with a rather large circle with a vertical diameter crossing it, Naruto said:

"Here you go, Shikamaru, your new home. See you around."

The group left, and Shikamaru was left alone. There was no doorbell, or any means to knock the door. Suddenly, he touched the door, and shadows under his feet outlined a message:

"What's this? 'Only the shadows can open this door'."

He sat down and began to think, his hands making the peace position.

As they kept walking, seeing a rather large park, Chouji asked:

"And, what are these 'new families' like, Naruto?"

Naruto eye-smiled, doubt barely hidden from his face:

"I, um, I don't know!"

Chouji and Ino lowered their faces in disappointment. Hinata, on the other side, was still firm in her walk. Then, they arrived to the second compound: a rather large bronze door with the word 'Food' written in it:

"Chouji, your stop."

Chouji breathed deep, scared, as the rest of the group left. He was nervous, and he quickly drew out a potato chips package, but before he could open it, he saw a butterfly that flew to him and stepped on his nose. He felt its energy and received a message:

"More strength, less weight. That's what's necessary to open this door."

The two girls walked with Naruto, and a rather excited Ino asked:

"Well, this is the start of a new life, isn't it? I'm so excited"

Naruto noticed her sudden change and said:

"Well, I'm glad that you enjoy it! This is your stop!"

Ino stopped at a rather large, deeply polished bronze door. Naruto and Hinata left, and Ino began looking at herself in the bronze mirror, vanity flying away; but then a terrifying voice spoke at her:

"Look at your soul in this mirror. When you recognise yourself an accept yourself, you will be welcome."

Ino suddenly saw how her reflection changed, and she got scared.

As Hinata and Naruo were finally left alone, she relaxed, and revealed lots of nervousness:

"Naruto, I-I'm scared..."

Naruto smiled:

"Do not worry, Hinata; you're better than that! Also, I can tell you that the Hyūga here are really nice people, not like the stuck-up fools from the..." Realizing how the phrase was about to end, he stopped: "Sorry, Hinata..."

Hinata giggled, blushed:

"Do not worry, Naruto! Um, I... I actually feel the same about them..."

She noticed that she could say it without feeling any kind of remorse. That was a feeling that she had never felt: total relaxation. They finally arrived to a bronze gate with a circle and a fireball inside it:

"Well, Hinata, um, this is your stop. Want me to come in with you?"

Hinata shook her head:

"Um, no! Thanks anyway, Naruto, but, um, I-I would rather do this alone..."

Hinata hugged Naruto with strength, and he returned the gesture. After a short kiss, they parted ways. Hinata noticed then that there was something strange with that door, so she pulsed energy to her eyes, her veins popping out, her lilac eyes turning full white. A message then was revealed:

"Oh! 'Only a clean sight with no prejudices or expectations can see the way in'... okay..."

When Naruto reached his own new home, he saw the bronze gate with the spiral in it, and he closed his eyes:

"Well, this is somewhat difficult, but I'll have to do it every single day. Stupid energy control..."

Naruto breathed deep, and out of his open hands, chains appeared. Tese chains entered through a couple of holes, entering deep inside the strange lock mechanism, and after a few seconds, a loud sound was heard, and the heavy door was unlocked, opening slowly. Naruto was sweating; aftet all, it was still difficult for him to control his energy at that level, even after six months of living there. When he entered, the chains returning to his body, the door closed. A rather beautiful yet fearful redhead girl, deep blue eyes, sculptural body covered in a long brown dress:

"Sup, Naruto?"

Naruto was nervous:

"Aunt Megumi! I'm home!"

Megumi got close to him and grabbed him by the neck, scratching his head with her fist:

"Ow! Stop!"

"Who's happy now? Is your girlfriend here already, brat?"

Naruto shook her off and said, rubbing his head:

"Yes! She's at the Hyūga compound!"

Megumi smiled, mischievous:

"And you aimed high! A Hyūga, no less!!"

Naruto replied with a chuckle:

"Well, you might say so! In the Leaf, the Hyūga were such pricks! I had to beat some sense out of her cousin after he beat her almost to death!"

Megumi was concerned, but she reassured him:

"I'm sure she'll like this new family of hers; here the Hyūga are nice people."

In the Hyūga compound's entry, Hinata sat down, closed her eyes and began to meditate. Immediately, her mind began to shower her with lots of images, emotions and thoughts. 'Only a clear mind without prejudices or expectations can see the way in...'

She began to relax, breathed deep, and focused her senses and her mind in her breathing. One by one, slowly and heavily, every single one of her fears, past memories of pain and sadness and emotional and psychological wounds took control of her. She cried every beating, every berating, every humiliation and every broken illusion, and it was hard for her, as they were deeply rooted inside her heart. She even began to fear that these Hyūga were like those of the Leaf, or maybe worse...

Suddenly, she opened her white eyes, and she saw how the gate turned pitch black, just like she felt her heart. 'They won't let me in...' But then, a flashy and shiny orange-clad blonde came out of nowhere, burning with his own cheerful attitude. 'Naruto wouldn't give up in this situation... I-I can't either...'

Hinata took a final decision: she would abandon her past ways, she would cry them, learn from them and rip them off her heart. She would start over a new life, with Naruto, away from her hellish family, and she would finally be happy. When she decided to open her eyes, she saw the door now shining in a blinding, brilliant white light. 'This isn't the way either... need to balance myself...'

Hinata started to calm down, having her joy, her sufferjng and her efforts together, in order to get a hold of them and put them under her control. She began to understand that all her pain was no more than a symptom of how deeply in pain and deeply sickened was her family and its members, and that now that she was out of it, she didn't have to repeat the patterns. She understood also that Naruto could face anything with a smile on his face and be victorious because of his high spirits, a mischievous attitude as his shield to protect his heart from the aggressive people of the Hidden Leaf Village, and the spiritual strength he had to have to battle against the Nine-Tailed Fox that lived in his gut. She didn't have such an energetic source in her, but she could be at peace with herself more easily, and even help someone like Naruto reach such state as well. She had finally discovered herself, and a path had finally opened in her soul for her. When she opened her eyes, there was no gate; instead, there was a group of five adult men wih bluish hair and lilac eyes, just like her, dressed with new-fashioned modern clothes, totally unlike her Leaf family. A forty-some years old man smiled and said:

"Welcome, Hinata; we've been expecting you."

End of Episode 6


	7. 07 - Initiation

**07 - Initiation**

Shikamaru found himself trying to get a hold of the riddle that this gate in front of him represented. He tried using his Shadow Mimic, yet it didn't work. He tried his Shadow Choking, but nothing... he tried his latest development: the Sadow Sewing, yet it didn't do a thing... _'What the hell does this mean...?'_ He read again:

"Only the shadows can open this door..."

He thought of it with effort, trying to rationalize the phrase, but then it changed:

"Huh? What's this? 'You're enlightening your light, holding onto it, and darkening your shadows, fearful to get into them.' Ok, this is still confusing..."

Hinata was entering a place where several midnight-blue and dark-violet-haired people with lilac eyes watched her, amused and interested. This immediately triggered her fears and she began pushing her fingers, sweating cold and hiding her face between her shoulders. The man who received her announced:

"My friends, we have a new member in the family. Please, welcome Hinata, daughter of my sister Hina."

Hinata's eyes almost popped out. _'He's my uncle?!'_ Everyone saluted her, and an elder lady, her hair matching her eyes in a light lilac color, got close to her. A nervous Hinata stepped backwards, and the lady said:

"Hmm... she seems healthy..."

Suddenly, her eyes turned full white:

"...yet her body is built over a lot of suffering, beatings and physical discomfort; she even sports really old, unhealed wounds, and some malformations in her potentially beautiful shape..."

Chouji had realized that this heavy gate had to be opened with his full strength, so he began to push it and slam it with his partial growth skill, yet it didn't even budge. He then tried to make a full growth in order to step over the gate, but a cage materialized from out of nowhere, locking him and avoiding his growth. _'Ok, they won't allow me to cheat...'_

He checked his pockets and his pouches, and he found four soldier pills and a red one. Seeing it, he said:

"Well, here goes nothing."

Hinata was shocked to hear that old lady. Perhaps all the pain she felt while doing certain movements was a consequence of unhealed wounds from all the lynchments she received, which her family called as 'training'. Then, her eyes turned shiny and silver-colored, surprising Hinata:

"...her mind is half-built, actually, over the basis of constant humiliation, berating, personal erosion, emotional isolation, instinct suppression, psychological punishment and torture... the standard brand of our Leaf brethren..."

Ino looked at herself in the polished silver that acted like a perfect mirror and what she saw was simply terrifying:

"What's this?! Is this... _me_?!"

Ino's reflection had a monstrous shape: her body was extremely skinny, almost anorexic; her eyes sported huge eyecups, weakness in mind and body; her expression reflected vanity, lots of envy and self-loathing, so as huge fears and insecurities about herself, her beauty and her skill as a ninja. All of it reflected in that mirror. When she looked at her own body after that, she was shocked, as her own body looked like the reflection:

"T-This is me..." Ino crumbled on her knees, crying like she had never done before: "I'm horrendous... a terrible person..."

Everyone in the Whirlpool Hyūga compound began to see Hinata with angry and concerned looks, which made her even more nervous. The old lady's eyes turned golden and shiny, scaring and amazing Hinata:

"...her heart and her feelings are deeply wounded, malnourished and crushed, as she didn't have any familiar support during her childhood and adolescence... anyone else in her position would have turned into a madman, a depressive maniac or a psychotic..."

Shikamaru felt how these words struck him like a lightning, and he sat down again, changing his hand position intuitively, without even thinking about it, and then some words from his father came to his head:

"My son, the shadows on the outside are our weapon, but the shadows on the inside are our worst enemy... never enter the sewers of our soul, or the shadows will eat you, and you'll get lost..."

Shikamaru then began to tie loose ends and closed his eyes; he needed to see the shadows inside himself and know them.

He breathed slowly, exploring every single instinct he had repressed, every single emotion hidden under an ironic attitude, every single feeling masked with reason, and he found himself in a place that he had never seen before: the dark sewers of his soul, his subconscious mind. Once inside, he found a huge mass of darkness, full with millions of tentacles, which began to speak to him in thousands of languages, images and noises. It was terrifying, the killing intent that emanated from it froze him, but then a female voice spoke to him:

"This is your darkest side, young kid; if you let yourself go, you'll be trapped inside it, never being able to leave. The Leaf Nara had lost themselves in it, after disrespecting it, and had lost its connection to it, but we kept it. Please, kneel down and spread your arms forward..."

Shikamaru did as told, and a black scroll appeared in his hands:

"This is the Shadow Summoning Scroll; sign it, and you will never have to fear your inner shadows, or any other; also, you'll gain a complete, respectful and protective access to the Kingdom of Shadows and their tenants. Proceed, and find balance in your soul."

Shikamaru nodded and signed the contract with his blood, and then the shadows stopped emanating that killer intent and became welcoming, ordered and calm. He then returned to his body, and found the door opened, and five persons waiting for him.

Hinata was scared now, but then the lady's eyes turned like two brilliant white stars, blinding her:

"...yet, her soul is still alive and well, filled with love and desire to grow happier and stronger... no one could ever break her mother's soul shield, and someone has ever found the way to strengthen and nourish her soul..."

Chouji took the red pill and ate it, and then he exploded his inner energy, huge butterfly wings forming up in his back as his fat was burned really quickly. He tried to push the gate, feeling the effort in his barely developed muscles, and then he tried to pull it upwards. Both efforts were not only exhausting, but also worthless.

He then tried to bash it and tackle it, and people walking down the street got far from him, trying to avoid him. He looked like mad now, but he had to find the way to break through. His energies were being wasted on a solid wall. Frustrated, he bashed his head against it, hurting himself. Then, a male voice said:

"Strength is not only used to bash ahead, but also to find other solutions."

Chouji saw then how a cat jumped over the gate, and he decided to give it a shot with his last strength. He crouched, and then he jumped, crossing the wall, but when he fell on the other side, he was so weak that he couldn't stand up. Seven adults met him, and a man spoke:

"The Leaf Akimichi trusted in fat and its quick burn to create energy for use in combat, but they weakened their bodies and they shortened their lives. They lost the ways of our Clan, and now they have shortened your life in half. Come with us, young one, and we might be on time to recover your true strength and your lifespan, no tricks, no life risks for free, no more disease."

The old lady's eyes turned lilac again, and a smile was drawn on her face as she said:

"Welcome, Hinata; you'll need to heal a lot prior to enter our family..." Hinata nodded, sad: "Come, your uncle Kaji and I will help you with that."

Ino cried terribly, completely disappointed in herself. A male voice asked her:

"Do you see this?" Ino nodded: "Do you know why you changed when you saw yourself in this mirror?" Ino shook her head: "Because the Leaf Yamanaka let their minds play with them, to the point that they surrendered their own senses to them, losing themselves in the process, seeing what they think they are instead of what they are."

Ino cried and claimed:

"But why? Why am I like this?"

"Because you stopped taking care of yourself and began to fall into your own mind's tricks, young lady. A true Yamanaka must learn to keep a strong mind in shape and in its proper place, so you can never lose sight of your heart and your consciousness, and accept both virtues and sins. If you don't, you'll lose in sincerity and consciousness, and you'll never be welcome again."

Ino nodded, sad. She had to be conscious of all the wrong things she had done: envy, ambition, blackmail, vanity, insane competition, frivolity, berating, and so on. She realized that she had done wrong, and that it had marked her body. Perhaps if she began to do right, she'd recover her shape for good. In that moment, the mirror disappeared, and five persons appeared behind it:

"Welcome, Ino. Please, come in; we'll take care of you."

Hinata walked with the old lady and the man identified as Kaji, his mother's brother. He smiled at her, seeing her concerns without needing to use his white eyes, and said:

"Hina suffered a lot, and also you did, young lady. We're here to heal you and take care of you, Hinata, so please trust us, okay?"

A shy Hinata nodded, pain deep inside her, hopes high.

End of Episode 07.


	8. 08 - Red Eyes and Snakes (1)

**A/N: Given the recent complaints of people who don't seem to value a story by its content but by its actual presentation, regarding actual intentional presentation facts as 'terrible mistakes', I'll return to the left-margin writing. Thanks.**

 **08 - Red Eyes and Snakes** **(1)**

Itachi and Tsuki were at the Whirlpool Uchiha compound, meeting with an elder woman in her private office. She said:

"Very well, you've gotten to the other Clans' kids, as I can see... Have you located Sasuke Uchiha?"

Itachi nodded:

"Indeed, we have, lady Akiko. He's been delivered to the main hideout of Orochimaru, in the northeastern sector of the Hidden Sound Village."

Akiko smiled:

"Well, he's closer from us now; that's good. Now, what can you tell me about him?"

Tsuki spoke sternly:

"Well, my lady, he's hellbent on killing Itachi and avenging his family, and he's actually in a search for power that actually led him to Orochimaru. I think that having Naruto outmatch him during their childhood made him even more hellbent on this goal."

Itachi said:

"He has received Orochimaru's Curse Mark, and I fear that I'll have to overexert myself in order to cleanse him."

Akiko looked at Itachi and said:

"You're already beyond the Chūnin rank in the Hidden Whirlpool Village, and you have made the Undying Soul ritual, so you'll return here if you die out there. Aside that, I think I've found you some assistance that I'm pretty sure you'll appreciate."

Akiko raised a hand, and a door behind her opened, a very beautiful lady dressed in a short gray dress with long sleeves and dark boots, her dark-brown hair falling down her mid back, her pitch-black eyes looking at Itachi, accompained by a tender smile and a pink tint in her cheeks:

"Itachi..."

Itachi looked at her and blushed:

"Hinoki..."

"I asked to the Senjū to assist us in our search, and Hinoki offered herself gently, so as her cousin, the young Kokerui, and a kid who used to belong to the Hidden Sound Village and was rescued by them a few months ago."

Hinoki nodded, getting close to Itachi:

"Hagane Tsuchi, a young survivor of the Curse Mark experiment who could flee from Orochimaru, has helped us keep track of Sasuke and check on his status. Also, Kokerui has asked me to take her along, as she had this strange nightmare..."

Itachi nodded. Kokerui Senjū was a 16-year-old girl that hadn't been able to become a Genin yet, but she already had enough skills to defend herself. He said:

"Ok, then, my lady; we shall prepare and meet in the gates in two hours. This will be a long mission, I'm afraid..."

Hinoki nodded, and everyone left the office. Akiko looked at them as they left and closed her eyes; she needed to rest before going out to the gardens.

In the Uzumaki compound, Naruto was training with Megumi, already tired:

"I still have lots of difficulties with these energy chains..."

Megumi was a bit anxious now:

"Why is it so difficult for you, brat? It's first control, then power. You're doing it all backwards."

Naruto simply said:

"Um, well, you know, I've got this-"

Megumi imediately reacted:

"You don't need to say that out loud; we could sense his presence when your little friends played that move on you." She then got close to him and removed his shirt and his jacket, seeing the seal: "I understand now..." She then looked into his eyes: "Naruto, we can help you with this, but we need your full consent for doing this. Come, we need to talk to the elders and to my father."

Naruto followed Megumi outside and walked towards the Uzukage tower; as they did, they saw Itachi and Hinoki walking together, Tsuki with the two teenagers a bit behind them. She asked, obnoxious:

"Itachi, Hinoki! Going out on a date?"

Both blushed, and the group behind them giggled at this reaction. Naruto understood then that his attitude somehow came to him from his mother's lineage. Hinoki answered:

"Knock it off, Megumi! We're going on a mission now, and we don't know how long it'll take us."

Megumi saw the young boy that followed them and said:

"Well, you're taking the boy with you; it means you're headed to the Hidden Sound..."

Itachi nodded:

"We're searching for my brother, as lord Uzukage wants him here as well."

Megumi nodded and said:

"Oh... well, good luck to you, guys..."

As they parted ways, Naruto noticed something strange with the boy behind Tsuki. His expression was something he had seen before during his trips with Jiraiya: the face of someone who knows is going to die very soon... when he said that to Megumi, she replied softly:

"This is our lifestyle, kiddo; we lose friends and family, and sometimes one knows when death is near or arriving."

Naruto nodded:

"Yeah... it made me not learn who my parents were..."

Megumi lowered her head, understanding his pain.

Tsuki took a look behind and saw how Kokerui Senjū and Hagane Tsuchi, each on his own way, were kind of shrouded by a dark cloud. Kokerui seemed to be worried about something, and Hagane seemed like resigned. Tsuki asked, trying to be as delicate as she could:

"What's the matter, guys?"

Hagane didn't speak; after all, he knew very well what was about to happen, yet he could do nothing to avoid his fate: the Curse Mark moved with intensity in his left shoulder. Kokerui, on the other part, raised her face just a bit, and said:

"I... I'd better not talk about that right now..."

Itachi and Hinoki turned to them and said:

"We must move up, guys; the mission has started already, and we cannot stay behind."

At Itachi's sign, the group ran, quickly reaching the gates. After they reached the gates and reported themselves, they crossed the long bridge and moved towards the southwest, once in mainland.

At the Hyūga compound, Hinata was laid on a couch, being attended by her uncle, Kaji, and the old lady, so as by three Hyūga medics. Kaji said:

"This is very simple, Hinata; we will test your energetic circulatory system and we shall test then your mental state. We need to know what we can do to help you grow healthier and happier."

Hinata nodded and breathed deep, and then Kaji said:

"Lady Kaori, we're ready."

Kaori Hyūga, her eyes immediately passing from lilac to white, silver, gold and then pure light, looked at Hinata deep in her eyes and touched her forehead, the young lady closing her eyes and relaxing.

What Kaori found, once inside Hinata's energy circulatory system, was a complete mess:

"This is outrageous! Can you see that, Kaji?"

Kaji did the same eye process as Kaori and took a look:

"It's as if she had been trained to have a weak energy circulation in search for extreme precision... those Leaf bastards trained her the wrong way!"

Kaori nodded:

"We need to make this girl strengthen her body and her energy circulation; if she doesn't, she won't be able to adapt to our training and our techniques."

"Well, my lady, how do we start now?"

"Doctor Himiko, please, prepare a serum with minerals and vitamins, one of the special ones..."

Himiko, a twenty-some-year-old lady all dressed in black, dark violet hair falling down her back and covering her ears, asked:

"Like the ones we use for treating extreme dehydration and malnourishment?" Kaori nodded: "Right away! Should we prepare it in pills, syrup or vial?"

"Vial! Go!"

The group of medics put hands to work as Kaori and Kaji began to focus their energy on Hinata. She felt how the vial of serum was inserted in her left arm, and then heard Kaori say:

"This will hurt a lot, Hinata, but it'll heal you once we're done."

Hinata nodded. She was already used to the pain; hell, she graduated from the university of pain... The vial started drawing serum in her veins, as Kaori and Kaji began drawing their energy into her system... and then the pain began...

After hours of running, the Sasuke Retrieval squad camped in the closure of a small town. They were not two days away from the Hidden Sound Village, yet Hagane began to feel ill:

"Nngh!! It h-hurts, dammit!!"

Kokerui, concerned about her friend, tried to check his seal:

"Cousin! Itachi! The seal is moving!"

Hinoki and Itachi got close to Hagane. Itachi cursed:

"This cannot happen now! We need to go back!"

"Why, Itachi?"

"As I feared, Orochimaru's Curse Mark can even be activated on our Special Dimension. If he finds out of this place and of our village, he will wreak havoc before we can be ready to defend ourselves."

Hinoki cursed:

"Well, let's get back."

Tsuki said:

"Well, let's do something: I'll draw Sasuke out of that place and invite him to the Uchiha training grounds; this can give us some time to deal with the Curse Mark on Hagane and make a plan to bring Sasuke with us."

Kokerui looked at the young Uchiha and then looked at Itachi:

"Well, you better be careful; almost everyone in the Original Dimension crave for Stealing Eyes out there, and if they can steal one with the Heavenly Eyes, unbeknownst to the Uchiha out there and to any user of our eyes, it'll be worse."

Tsuki nodded. The Uchiha's bloodline limit, the Stealing Eyes, and all that derivated from it, were such powerful techniques that could even be used to create massive illusions and make such great feats as controlling the timeline, teleporting in zero time and summoning the Death Gods. Yet, the Whirlpool Uchiha's bloodline limit, the Heavenly Eyes, had a series of techniques that made the Stealing Eyes pale in comparison. She said:

"I'll be careful! See you all in a week in the Uchiha training grounds."

The group nodded and parted ways.

In the Hidden Leaf Village, Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka and Chouza Akimichi drank and ate, as usual, at their favorite restaurant. They seemed depressed and upset, and Inoichi was the first one to claim, already drunk:

"Lady Tsunade truly has brass balls!"

Chouza corrected, also drunk:

"She can't have balls, she's a lady!"

"Come on, Chouza! You know what I mean! How is she sending our kids away like that?!"

Shikaku nodded:

"Also Hinata was sent with them, and the fuss it caused in the Hyūga compound was too troublesome!"

Chouza claimed:

"And their location, so as Naruto's, is not S-rank; lady Tsunade classified it as X-rank! X-rank?!"

Inoichi drank his sake and said:

"The hell with it!" Directing his attention to the waiter, he babbled: "Hey! Make us a full barbecue!"

What the former Ino-Shika-Chou trio didn't suspect, as they ventilated their disagreements, was that someone was listening to them... as she ran away to the streets, Shikaku could have a glimpse of pink hair leaving that restaurant. _'Crap! We'll get in trouble!'_ He warned:

"The girl heard us! Lady Hokage's going to kill us!"

Inoichi winced, visualizing already all the possible tortures she could have reserved for three drunken bastards.

End of Episode 08


	9. 09 - Red Eyes and Snakes (2)

**09 - Red Eyes and Snakes (2)**

A young lady in dark red dress, black shorts, short pink hair and black boots ran like hell towards the Hokage tower, her aquamarine eyes welling up tears as she ran. Suddenly, half her way, she couldn't move anymore. _'What's this?!'_ When she saw to the floor, barely moving her eyes, she saw how her shadow was darker than usual. _'The Nara!'_ Suddenly, a voice was heard in her head, a voice she knew very well:

"Sakura, I don't know what you're doing with what you heard from us, but if you go to lady Hokage bolstering around, she'll know you heard it from us, and she'll kill us!"

Sakura simply said, upset:

"Lord Inoichi, I'm sorry, but I must go to lady Tsunade! She has to tell me where Naruto is!"

Inoichi replied:

"Yet, please, you don't mention anything about what you heard from us!"

Sakura nodded:

"Ok, I'll amend your mistakes, Jounin! If I find about him and about Ino, I'll tell you!"

When Sakura recovered her movements, she resumed her run to the Hokage tower.

At the Hidden Sound Village, Tsuki moved carefully, using all her ANBU knowledge to keep herself concealed. She then reached a subterranean entry, and she pulsed energy to her eyes, the irises turning blue, a white pentagram on each iris. She whispered a name, picturing a face in her mind:

"Sasuke Uchiha..."

All of a sudden, she saw how, deep inside the hideout, a large mass of energy appeared, bathed in fire and sparkling with electricity. She smiled:

"You're active, yet you seem bored... let's see if this arouses your attention, my old friend..."

Tsuki bit her finger and made a summoning, a small, white-feathered raven appearing in front of her. He listened to what Tsuki had to say to her and flew.

Inside the underground hideout, Sasuke could care less about anything in life. He was already powerful enough, and he couldn't wait to meet Itachi and kill him. Actually, Orochimaru began to become a nuisance in his path, and hearing his deathly coughs was an indication of his own departure time, arriving slowly.

He was laying in his litter, as he didn't exactly sleep in a bed in there, and he just listed on his mind over all the things he'd do to his brother, as he also remembered all the deaths that were on his back, waiting for him to gain justice. Suddenly, his senses were taken aback as a white raven appeared over his lap:

"What the hell?"

In that same moment when Sasuke disposed to grab his katana, he heard the sweet female voice coming from it and he froze:

"Hello, Sasuke... hope you remember me..."

Sasuke couldn't believe his own ears, so he activated his Stealing Eyes and took his blade, quickly striking at the bird. He did nothing to it, yet the female voice spoke again through it:

"I see the rumors are true: you fill your mouth with the 'avenging your family' speech, yet you couldn't care less about us..."

Sasuke charged his electric nature energy and shocked the bird, but it remained harmless:

"The Leaf Uchiha are all the same, killing each other for power, instead of joining and becoming stronger. I'm very disappointed, Sasuke..."

Sasuke jumped to the bird, yet he couldn't catch it, so he pulsed energy through his body, in order to dispel the illusion... yet the bird remained, and the female voice gave the final blow:

"And to think that I wished to marry you before all the Itachi issue... you're weak, alone and disgraced, my dear Sasuke. A shame..."

Sasuke replied, with a really low voice:

"Whoever you are, stop playing with my dead! Leave Tsuki rest in peace, you bastard!"

"But I'm not dead... you think of me as dead, but I've been around you, yet you denied yourself seeing me over and over..."

Sasuke's eyes opened wide, welling up tears.

At the Leaf Hyūga manor, Hiashi was alone at his office when, all of a sudden, he began feeling a stinging heartache. The pain dropped him down to the floor, but he could recognize what that pain meant. _'Hinata...'_

When Hinata began to show the first 'signs of weakness' (which, after remembering Hina and studying Hinata, he deemed as not such), the Main Branch elders forced him to suppress and limit her heart as a source for energy circulation, and for the sake of keeping the Clan in peace and himself as the Patriarch, he placed energy dams in her first-born child, cursing her to never meet her true nature, and cursing her to eternal weakness. These dams he bonded them to his own heart, as he preferred to keep control of her himself rather than ceasing it to any elder. Now, the dams were being attacked with strength, and he realized that, for truly letting Hinata go and become like her mother, he had to release these dams. He said, activating his White Eyes:

"I'm sorry, Hinata, for all I've done to you... hope this helps you grow strong anf beautiful, jist like your mother, or even better than her... I love you..."

He hit his own heart with his left hand's fingertips, feeling a terrible pain that left him unconscious on the ground. Before he fell unconscious, he seemed to have listened his daughter's voice in his head, softly saying:

"Thank you, f-father... I-I love you too..."

In a dark cave, on a giant statue with the shape of two imprisoned hands, ten men stood up on each of the statue's fingertips, and one of them, his hair orange and disordered, his eyes colored in pale violet with concentric circles, wearing a black overcoat with red clouds, said:

"Well, we've captured the second human sacrifice..."

Itachi watched all of them, being present as one of the ten men, and kept his face serious. Hiding in the parallel dimension, Hinoki watched, as stealthily as she could, as Kokerui and Hagane waited outside. Meanwhile, a gray-haired man, who carried an old man and tossed him to the palms of the statue's hands, claimed:

"This jackass ruined my plans! Luckily, he was a demon bearer."

The orange-haired man saw him smile and said, bored:

"We heard what you did, Hidan. I should dismember you for letting loose that pathetic god of yours and annihilating a whole minor ninja village, but at least it served you to recover a hiding human sacrifice." He turned to a masked man with five seals in his body: "Anything to say, Kakuzu?"

Kakuzu, the masked man, said, shrugging his shoulders in a bored gesture:

"The Grass ninjas were defending the Four-Tails' bearer, and we expected that our deals with the Hyūga bastards would ensure us a White Eye; but as our spies told us that the Hyūga heiress vanished like thin air, Hidan decided to quench his anger by giving the whole Hidden Grass to his Jashin before taking out the human sacrifice."

Everyone in there saw the couple like if they were insane, but the orange-haired man simply said:

"Well, it can serve its purpose in the end; the Hidden Rock Village will think twice before chasing after us, and your little charade might stir things up in the Hidden Leaf. Let's take care of this one; our job has begun."

The ten men began holding hand positions and started concentrating their energies in the giant statue, and it started sucking the old man's blue and golden energy sources, activating a seal in his belly.

Hinata cried light tears as she smiled, the pain receding quickly as she felt how the dams in her heart were eliminated. Then, she felt how her energy nodes began to strengthen at a fast rate, and her circulatory system turned also stronger, allowing more energy to circulate at a time, without pain or suffering. It also strengthened her body and healed her old wounds, and also refreshed her mind and her heart, as she felt how her father, Hiashi, finally showed her his love by letting go of her, while Kaji and Kaori put their efforts in healing her.

After a long hour of work, Hinata opened her eyes, and a smiling Kaji said:

"How do you feel now, Hinata?"

Hinata felt like new:

"I feel, um, more... in control..."

Kaori smiled at her as well:

"You'll feel stronger now, Hinata, so as more calm and more in peace; from now on, your growth will only depend on yourself."

Hinata nodded. This was definitely the start of a new life for her. Kaji said, smiling:

"Now, in order to honor your mother, my sister, I shall be the one to train you into the Whirlpool Hyūga's arts. Come with me."

Kaori was suddenly distracted by a young clanmate, who said, a bit hurried:

"Lady Kaori! Lord Uzukage requires your presence in the tower's basement! It's about the new Uzumaki kid!"

Hinata claimed:

"Naruto!!"

Kaji knew that he had to let her go; after all, it was obvious that she loved him, and he was quite important for her. He said:

"We'll go as well; something tells me that Hinata could learn a thing or two from him, and he could use her assistance, if what you're all going to do is what I think it is. Let's go."

Kaori nodded and took them along.

In Sasuke's room, the white raven continued talking with Tsuki's voice:

"To think that I admired you and wished to be married to you, and now you are such a jackass, giving yourself to whoever promises you power, intending to kill your brother instead of understanding why he did what he did, and avenging a family that didn't appreciate you at all..."

Sasuke grunted, trying to not attract anyone's attention:

"Stop it! Whoever you are, stop this!"

"Well, I think I'd better go away; you must give up your body to Orochimaru in a few minutes, as the coward you are. Yet, if there is any kind of self-esteem inside of you, meet me outside after you behead the snake."

The white raven disappeared, leaving Sasuke in terrible turmoil. He had already thought on killing Orochimaru, but this made him anxious. In that moment, a gray-haired young man with glasses entered his room and saw Sasuke like that, sweating, and asked:

"What's wrong, Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave him a death glare, stronger than any other he had ever received:

"Leave, Kabuto."

Kabuto swallowed hard:

"I'm afraid that I can't; lord Orochimaru requires you at his personal quarters immediately."

Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, he stood up and took his katana blade, scaring Kabuto:

"Wha-what are you doing with tha-"

Sasuke didn't say anything, but his eyes spoke for him. Kabuto shut up and let him do, guiding him towards the quarters of his boss and master.

Once they arrived, they saw a shameful Orochimaru, lying on his bed, coughing blood like if he was dying already on the insides, and Kabuto said, concerned:

"Master! Sasuke is here!"

"Leave us alone, Kabuto! Now!"

Kabuto obeyed, scared, and Sasuke entered the room, sword in hand. Orochimaru laughed and said:

"My dear Sasuke, finally, our time has come. Please, step up."

Sasuke calmed himself down and stood in front of him. He was silent. Orochimaru began focusing what was left of his inner energy. He smiled and said:

"Are you ready to receive me, Sasuke? We'll become more powerful together!"

Suddenly, the voice talked to him, as he saw the white raven beside him:

"He wants your Stealing Eyes, because they can kill him. Itachi knew it, and now you do..."

In the Hidden Leaf Village, Sakura was arriving to the Hokage's office. She saw Shizune in her desk, and the assistant asked her:

"Sakura, what's wrong?"

"I must speak to our master right now!"

"But lady Tsunade is on a meeting right now, Sakura; wait!"

Sakura busted the door open and saw how Tsunade was with three elders she didn't know about. Tsunade's face was one of true anger, and even Sakura's impulse was frozen:

"Um, I'll wait outside, lady Hokage!"

Sakura closed the door and waited outside, but she kept listening:

"Tsunade, you cannot keep Naruto hidden from us!"

"I don't have him hidden anywhere, old geezers."

"Jiraiya doesn't appear anymore, and I fear that the villages learn of our lack of human sacrifice and start invading us. Do you understand what this means?"

"Simple: that the other Hidden Villages will have to take care so dearly of their own human sacrifices. The Red Dawn has already captured the Four-Tails, so the Hidden Rock has one less, and rumours are that the Two-Tails was also captured from the Hidden Cloud's grasp."

"Yet, the blond brat **must** stay here! If you cannot command him back, then we'll have no other choice than removing you as Hokage, given your incompetence in matters of state."

"Well, I will present my dimision tomorrow, if that's your final decision."

"We will wait for it then; we must move heaven and earth to find our war weapon. I think Danzou could be more effective doing this than you. We shall leave then."

Sakura got away from the door and saw the three elders leave the office, one of them full of bandages in his right arm and eye. He looked at her as he passed along, and Sakura felt genuine, dark fear. After they all left, Tsunade looked at Sakura and said:

"Come in."

Sakura walked into the office, scared as hell, and closed the door behind her. Tsunade said:

"No, I won't tell you anything about Naruto and his location; I don't know about it."

Sakura's fear turned into anger and she left:

"Where are you going, Sakura?!"

"I'll go and find him myself!"

Tsunade said, her voice firm:

"Go ahead; you won't find him, and all you'll do is put yourself in danger and put him in danger."

Sakura blew the door as she left. Tsunade decided to act, and she began by closing the windows and pulsing energy. She had a lot of work to do before leaving the office.

Orochimaru turned into a huge white snake, and Sasuke activated his Stealing Eyes, his sword quickly drawn out. The huge snake jumped to eat him, and then both froze.

They appeared in a mindscape that looked like a cave. Orochimaru was firmly trapped inside a rock, not being able to move:

"What is this?! Sasuke!"

"You are pathetic, Orochimaru."

"We made a deal!! Your body is mine!!"

"You'll always lose against these eyes."

Sasuke drew his blade, and Orochimaru was sliced down to death.

When the door was opened, a nervous Kabuto saw Sasuke leave the room and asked:

"W-Which one of them are you?"

Sasuke activated his Stealing Eyes and smirked:

"You guess, jackass..."

When Kabuto entered the room, saw Orochimaru's snake form sliced open, the room full of blood, the corpse thrown to the ground.

End of Episode 09.


	10. 10 - Red Eyes and Snakes (3)

**10 - Red Eyes and Snakes (3)**

Itachi and the rest of the dark-hooded men finished the rather powerful process of the sealed demon's extraction, and all of them were tired. After resting for a while, the orange-haired man said:

"Very well, we have captured the second tailed beast. We must keep going; there are seven to go."

Itachi nodded and said:

"Understood, my lord. Shall we go still in two-man cells?"

"Indeed."

"Because I have something to solve, and I don't pretend to force Kisame out of his duties for the Order."

Kisame, a man with dark-blue spiky hair and gray skin, small round eyes and sharp teeth like a shark, smirked and said:

"No worries. I know you've got this brother issue, so let's go and let you solve this thing. I also want to see how it ends."

Itachi nodded and the group left, as for the first time they were all in a same place, present in body and soul. Meanwhile, a concerned Hinoki walked quickly outside, reuniting with Hagane and Kokerui. When they saw her arrive in such haste, they knew something wasn't quite right:

"Itachi will have to go on his own; he's got company, and not a careless one."

When they saw Itachi and Kisame leave the cave, Kokerui felt a shiver running down her spine:

"This guy is almost as powerful as a human sacrifice..."

Hagane felt his Curse Mark moving desperately, almost as if it wanted to be discovered. Hinoki cursed and began to move, and she quickly pulsed her energy over the seal, enclosing the curse mark in a circle:

"Here, this will help for a day or so."

Hagane nodded, thankful, but he said:

"Orochimaru was killed, and the curse mark is already unbearable."

Kokerui said, concerned:

"I guess this Sasuke Uchiha is already with Tsuki."

Hinoki nodded, and the trio followed Itachi and Kisame.

In the Hidden Leaf Village, Sakura left her home, packing her stuff, weapons and medical supplies. She was leaving at her own risk, and Tsunade wouldn't be able to do anything else for her. Yet, she had to do it.

Sasuke, the eternal love of her life (an uncorresponded love, by the way), had dumped her already in search for power, neglecting her feelings in the end. As she was left alone, she saw all what Naruto had done for her, even risking his very own life, for making her happy, and she made the mistake of taking him for granted, his feelings and everything else. He left now, in order to grow stronger, and she turned to realize how useless she had been, so as senseless, with him, so she slowly matured her feelings for him and realized that she actually loved him... but now he was gone, and so were Hinata and Ino... if she lost Naruto to any of them, she wouldn't forgive herself ever.

She left her home, not letting her parents learn about it, but as she took the streets, she was boarded by three youngsters in porcelain masks, and then the old man in bandages appeared in front of her, again scaring her:

"Who are you?! Leave me alone!"

The old man said, uncovering his right eye:

"Sakura of the Springs, student for Kakashi Hatake and Tsunade Senjū, kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf shinobi ranks, rank Chūnin, age 16. Where are you going?"

Sakura was always tough in her verb, even nore when fear threatened to paralyze her:

"Danzou Shimura, what do you want?"

Danzou uncovered his right eye, keeping it closed, the amount of energy emanating from the eye raising Sakura's fears:

"All I demand is knowing where does a Chūnin go without the permission of her Hokage."

Sakura claimed:

"You're not the Hokage! I have nothing to say to you!"

Danzou opened his eye, revealing a Stealing Eye:

"I'll be your Hokage tomorrow, and I have the permission to demand where you intend to go, Chūnin..."

Sakura was lost in the spinning red eye, falling down a pit and into her worst fears. Suddenly, she woke up, as her head was bashed fiercely, almost feeling blood drop from her head:

"I'm still Hokage today! You leave her alone, Danzou!"

Danzou looked at Tsunade, so as Sakura, and said, turning his back on them, his three masked guards along with him:

"Tsunade, you're playing with fire already..."

Tsunade saw him leave and said, quickly healing Sakura's head, her voice fearsome:

"You listen to me, and listen well! You won't leave my side from now on! Understood?!"

Still scared, shaking her fears off, crying, she looked at her and decided not to disobey her master. She then finished and left her a note in her pouch, before leaving. Sakura stood up, breathing deeply, and decided to go to a place where she wasn't being watched.

She entered her place and entered her bathroom, which was secured with different kinds of seals and defense systems. When she saw the note left by Tsunade, she was shocked:

"I must give up my position as Hokage, and I'll leave tonight. I'll meet you in the gates at midnight. Don't tell anyone; we're out of here."

Sakura was scared at the possibilities of leaving the village alone with Tsunade and Shizune. Perhaps they could lead her to Naruto.

Tsuki waited patiently, after hearing up the mess inside, and she saw Sasuke leave. He was strong and handsome, his face revealing a mixed expression of doubt, rage, fear and pride. Her eyes could easily detect every single feature in anyone's expression, body stance and movements, and Sasuke was an open book for her, no need of activating her bloodline limits. Obviously, he couldn't see her, so she decided to make a 'dynamic entry':

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke turned in every single direction, yet he saw no one around. He heard how the voice led him towards the forest:

"Sasuke... over here..."

Sasuke entered the woods, heading southeast, and he grabbed his blade:

"Whoever you are, I swear I'll kill you!"

The voice claimed for a last time, from behind some bushes:

"Come, Sasuke..."

Sasuke crossed the bushes and jumped to a clearing where he saw her:

"This... this cannot be... stop playing with me!"

Tsuki smiled, seeing how Sasuke drew his blade and jumped towards her, killer intent at his maximum. Yet, Tsuki giggled, dodging him easily:

"Is that all your killer intent, my dear? Do you plan on taking out Itachi like that?"

Sasuke recognized even the way she joked, quite taunting, as Tsuki's:

"Stop playing with me!!"

Tsuki simply said:

"I'm not your enemy, and you should know it already, my dear; or have you already forgotten what you felt for me?"

Sasuke looked at her with his Stealing Eyes on, and what he found was something really familiar:

"You even memorized her energy signatures... you bastard! You don't respect her memory!"

Sasuke attacked again with more ferocity, but Tsuki still laughed at his attempts:

"Certainly, when a lion decides to believe in something, even if you hit him with the truth in his face he won't listen..."

Tsuki smiled and grabbed his wrist, disarming him really fast, and then he was face on the ground, the girl sitting over his back:

"Do you remember the night when everyone died?"

"I dream with it every single night..."

"Do you remember where I was that night?"

"You were at your home..."

Sasuke felt how his wrist was pressed in an unnatural direction, stinging pain in his whole arm and shoulder:

"Nope... Remember well, I told you that day what I was going to do..."

Sasuke was marked with the images that Itachi implanted on his mind, but those were only the images of the corpses, and the image of Itachi murdering his parents, but there seemed to be nothing before that. A troubled Sasuke claimed:

"I... I can't remember..."

Tsuki simply said, her eyes turning red:

"Look at my eyes and you'll see your past..."

Sasuke saw her Stealing Eyes, but then they turned to blue, the black dots turning white, and Sasuke's head began to ache terribly:

"Hold it, I'm trying to fix what you deformed from what Itachi did..."

Sasuke felt how his thoughts were reorganized, as his head felt a stinging ache that lowered almost immediately. Suddenly, he remembered:

"You... you went on a trip with your mother... you weren't there... during the massacre..."

Tsuki nodded:

"I was spared by Itachi... he sent me away, he took care of me and placed me in the ANBU, so I could keep an eye for you on his behalf..." Sasuke was, all of a sudden, crying: "Who do you think took you food and clothes at home, the civilians? The ANBU? The elders? Your silly fangirls? Nope, it was me..."

Tsuki began to shed some tears as well:

"Remember the Raven ANBU, the one who tried to talk to you during your academy days, the one who tried to give you advice, the one who warmed you from leving the Leaf, after you dumped the pinkette...?" Sasuke nodded: "That was me..."

Sasuke remembered when he beat Sakura unconscious, with one single hit, and when he took the dark path, before he met the Sound Four, how the Raven ANBU got close to him, with this voice filled with regret, and told him:

"If you do this, you'll waste yourself, and you won't ever discover the true secrets of your Clan..."

Sasuke remembered himself scoffing at her in a selfish gesture:

"I'm taking with me all the secrets of the Clan: the Stealing Eyes, the Kaleidoscope Eyes and the Soul Transmutation Eyes, and I'll find them out and defeat Itachi."

Before he left towards Orochimaru, he remembered the Raven's last words:

"Those are not the true secrets of your Clan... of _our_ Clan..."

This made Sasuke shatter himself in thousands of pieces, as a serious and sad Tsuki said:

"You have no idea how degrading it has been for me and for Itachi to see you go down this path..." Sasuke looked at her, puzzled: "He wanted you to see how the 'secret' techniques of the Uchiha boards worked, so you wouldn't pursue them. He sent me away, after my brother Shisui died, to try and keep you on the right path, away from the influence of the Leaf elders and the Uchiha bastards who wish to use you for their personal vendettas, like they used our family before you... but I see we failed..."

Tsuki left the clearing, sad, crying, and Sasuke was left alone, revolving around all what he had learned right now... suddenly, he saw the white raven in a tree branch and heard her broken voice talk through it:

"I gave up on you already, Sasuke, and I'm really sorry for that... go ahead and kill Itachi, he waits for you in the Uchiha training grounds... go and bring us all the ruin you're meant to bring us... we deserve it..."

Sasuke lowered his head in shame; he was still angry to death with his older brother, but now the reason was another one...

That night, Tsunade and Sakura have gathered at the Hidden Leaf's gates, along with Shizune and the little piggy Tonton. She asked:

"Master, what's going on? Why are we here?"

Tsunade said, serious:

"We're leaving, Sakura. We're no longer needed here."

"But, why? Why are the elders replacing you so out of the blue?"

Tsunade and Shizune were looking at the Hokage statues and the Tower, as if waiting for something to happen. Sakura felt that her questions fell on deaf ears, and she asked again:

"Why are you being replaced as Hokage by the elders, master?"

Suddenly, a huge yell was heard, echoing through the whole village, and Tsunade said:

"Let's move; I'll tell you on the way."

Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura left the Hidden Leaf Village, while, in the Hokage's office, a furious Danzou found himself in a completely clean office, no recordings, no papers, no seals, no reports, not even energy signatures from anyone:

"Tsunade Senjū must be captured, tortured and killed!! She's a traitor to the Hidden Leaf!! Both her and her petty friend Jiraiya!! Find them and bring them to me!! That's my first command as Sixth Hokage!!"

End of Episode 10


	11. 11 - Red Eyes and Snakes (4)

**11 - Red Eyes and Snakes (4)**

In the Uzukage's office, nine elders were gathered, along with the Uzukage, his wife, Megumi, Kaji, Hinata and Naruto. Gendou said, against the evidence Megumi revealed him:

"I see... this is bad..."

Hinata saw Naruto's belly, blushed at the sight of his abs, but also nervous at the presence of the terrible seal. She understood immediately that the warm red energy he had came from this seal, and it was his greatest blessing... and his most terrible curse...

Megumi said:

"Naruto's parents made this seal, but somehow the seal is incomplete..."

Naruto was shocked to death, and Hinata was surprised:

"My... m-my parents?"

Kaori nodded and said:

"This red energy from the Nine-Tails is incomplete..."

Hinata saw how Naruto lowered his head, as if he was sorry that Hinata heard his terrible secret. She understood many things, and she jumped to hug him with all her tenderness. Naruto didn't expect this reaction from her; he expected her to do as everyone else, rejecting her in fear or hatred. Hinata simply hugged him and whispered at him:

"I... I won't let that damn fox get the best of you..."

Naruto let a tear fall, returning the hug to Hinata as he said:

"And I won't let this damn fox hurt you..."

An Uzumaki elder, a man with long gray hair and red moustache, said:

"The young Kushina and her lovely husband could only seal the Yang energy of the Nine-Tails inside him... where is his Yin energy?"

Gendou said, nodding:

"Kushina had the whole Tailed Beast sealed inside of her; perhaps when she gave birth to Naruto it was released from her weakened seal, but who could be powerful enough to separate the Fox's chakra like that?"

The Yamanaka elder, a woman with long white hair and a hair strand covering her left eye, looked at Naruto's eyes and said, after a few seconds of a sustained stare:

"Perhaps he could ask them directly; they left their energy inside of him..." Naruto's eyes opened wide: "...but this is something that he has to do on his own, as it's something particularly risky for his life..."

Hinata was at Naruto's side, and as he gulped in fear and excitement, she said:

"I... I-I think you should do it, Naruto... you need this..."

Naruto nodded and said:

"I'll do it... but... what do I have to do?"

Sasuke walked on his own, heading towards the Uchiha training grounds. He was thinking about all what happened that evening, the apparition of Tsuki, his very only friend among the Uchiha of their age; the fact that she had survived, and that she seemed not only to keep him alive and well, but also seemed to be the one to try being his voice of the consciousness, completely unheard... what he couldn't understand was why she defended Itachi, the one who killed their families... he needed to understand this at all costs; now he truly doubted what Itachi meant him to understand from the whole assassination of their family and the preservation of Tsuki...

His head hurt badly, and then he remembered the very last thing that brought him so many questions: the thing of the 'true secrets' of the Clan, and how Tsuki's eyes changed from the familiar red with black dots to a cerulean with white dots... what was that technique... was it something that he could achieve... why no one ever mentioned it, not even the Clan's Tables...

He went to sleep, careful of his surroundings, yet completely clueless of Tsuki, who kept watching him with hope...

In a cave, in an unknown place, a masked man met with the orange-haired man, and both spoke seriously:

"Itachi is going to meet with Sasuke now..."

The masked man nodded:

"It's of our greatest interest to keep a watchful eye on them; whoever makes it out of this battle must be immediately seized, Pain..."

Pain, the orange-haired man, replied:

"The Stealing Eyes are the weapon we need to complete the project we have to reunite the world under our protection..."

The masked man raised a hand and a man appeared, his right side of the body was black, his left side was white, his head was covered by a strange carnivorous-plant-like appendix:

"Zetsu, go to the Uchiha training grounds and keep a careful watch over Itachi and Sasuke. Whoever makes it must come to me, carrying the corpse of the dead one. Nobody else must have access to the scene."

Zetsu's white side said:

"Sure, master."

The black side replied with a dark, raspy voice:

"This will be certainly fun..."

Zetsu melted with the rock and left that place. Pain looked at him and said:

"Sasori and Deidara are ready to capture the One-Tail's bearer. Shall we send them now?"

The masked man shook his head:

"Not yet. I'd like to have the results of this brother-versus-brother battle first. The One-Tail is the Fifth Kazekage, so taking him out will not be that easy; after all, the Hidden Sand Village is a Great Ninja Village, not like the Hidden Grass, and it's going to be a lot more difficult to pull a play like Hidan did."

Pain nodded patiently and seriously.

Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura ran at a rather frantic pace, heading out of the Hidden Leaf Village's terrain of influence. The ex-Hokage was particularly upset, and Sakura felt that the trip was particularly silent, too silent for her. Having Naruto in her group was something that accustomed her to a noisy environment, and she missed his noise so badly now...

Tsunade began to head east, which surprised Sakura:

"Where are we-"

Shizune interrupted her with a death glare, and Sakura gulped. Certainly, this would be a very silent field trip...

Naruto had willingly entered his inner sewers as he followed the elders' advice. He felt loads of fear, as he had some time without entering his own mindscape. There he was: the wild and evil Nine-Tailed Fox, the dreaded demon of ancient times, locked in a steel cage by a seal tag that simply said: "Do not remove". _'Heh! Quite a simple one, right? Foolproof...'_

He then decided to attract the attention of the Tailed Beast:

"Yo! Fox!"

The grunt was scary enough to make him step back:

 **"What do you want, you stupid kid? Are you searching for your own death?"**

Naruto knew that the Fox couldn't kill him right now, but he knew that it _could_ kill him whenever it wanted. He just said:

"I'll get this seal off; I'm tired of this shit!"

The fox saw Naruto get close to the tag and growled a chuckle:

 **"Nh, nh, nh, so the knucklehead decided to give up in the end... it's your death, jackass..."**

Naruto took off the seal and began to feel how the seal in his belly began to liberate monstrous amounts of energy, but when he was about to lose himself, the seal was immediately shut down. When Naruto recovered his consciousness, he saw the Fourth Hokage and his beautiful redhead wife, which shocked him half to death:

"Fourth Hokage?! And his wife?! Why are you here?!"

The red-headed lady looked at him and said, smiling with a chuckle, over the curses and yells of the Fox:

"The kid came out as foolish as me... how cute..."

A shocked and upset Minato asked:

"What the hell were you thinking, Naruto?"

Naruto simply stood up and punched them both: first him, then her. The Nine-Tailed Fox, who seemed to be wrathful, suddenly shut up, detailing the scene. Seeing them on the floor, Naruto claimed:

"I don't know why you're here, or why you did this, but I hate you both!"

Minato and Kushina fell on the ground, stumped by the reaction of the blond teenager:

"What was that for, brat?!"

"Naruto?!"

Naruto was upset, crying, and the Fox began to chuckle in a terrifying way:

 **"Beautiful family reunion! I'll make you pay, Minato! I'll take your son and-"**

In an unison yell, scarier than the own Tailed Beast, the three yelled back at it:

"SHUT UP, YOU FOOL!!!"

The almighty Nine-Tailed Fox, the Prince of Demons, the most powerful creature on Earth, was forced to shut up by a human family, and it could do nothing to avoid it. After the yell, Naruto finally came to realize what the Fox had said:

"Wait a minute... d-did the stupid fox here call me 'your son', Fourth Hokage?" Minato nodded: "I cannot be your son..."

Kushina asked:

"Why not? You both are identical!"

"No, I'm not..." Both noticed how he started crying: "You were a genius, a legendary ninja whose power, intelligence and skills were simply extra awesome, and I'm such a mess, incapable of growing beyond Genin, incapable of learning at school, at controlling my chakra; damn! Even that fool of Sasuke could control elements before I could even start to learn how to fight!" Before they could answer, a bitter Naruto continued, clenching his fists: "Also, i-if I were your son, the H-Hidden Leaf villagers wouldn't have tried to murder me every single day or night, wouldn't have let me starving or in pain, wouldn't have rejected me and pushed me away... it's logical, isn't it?! Why would they despise the son of their greatest hero ever?!"

Sakura kept walking down the path that Tsunade made her follow, still in silence. Finally, they camped, and Tsunade finally spoke:

"I think we're safe here. Let's begin to-"

All of a sudden, Tsunade was surrounded by five porcelain-masked men, all armed with blades and daggers, and both Shizune and Sakura were trapped in the eye illusion of a terrifying Danzou, who appeared out of nowhere and kept them both trapped. Tsunade claimed:

"Leave them alone, Danzou!"

He was cold as always, but his killer intent was even greater today:

"Tell me where Uzumaki is right now or I'll kill them."

Tsunade saw how Sakura and Shizune began to cry, paralyzed as they were, and Tsunade growled:

"Will you not even spare innocents to fulfill your ambitions? Do you truly care for the Leaf?"

"I care for the Leaf even more than any Hokage, and you know it better than anyone; that's why I protect it in the shadows, and why no one ever dares to shut my ROOT program down: we're effective and necessary..."

Tsunade simply lowered her head and said:

"Then you'll have to kill me; I don't know where he is..."

"If that's how it'll be, then so be it. We shouldn't lose great assets like yourself for the sake of keeping us whole, but if fate claims it like this..."

Danzou made a nod and the five ninjas quickly stabbed her, but then Danzou was trapped by a giant toad tongue, not being able to move:

"Jiraiya!! You're betraying your village too?!"

Shizune and Sakura woke up, their spirits already down, to see how those five masked ninjas stabbed Tsunade to death and then jumped towards the giant frog, being kicked and taken out by an upset Jiraiya, whose giant toad trapped the recently named Sixth Hokage:

"Take care of Tsunade; I'll deal with this scum!"

Sakura and Shizune began to put hands to work, checking the wounds and preparing everything they had with them to heal her. Jiraiya simply jumped towtds the toad's tongue and, as it released Danzou, he began with a kick to his head, especially his right eye. Danzou, who seemed quiet, let him do until his right arm was released from a particularly heavy armor piece, revealing six Stealing Eyes planted along his arm:

"So you've profitted a lot from the Uchiha massacre?! Have you no shame?!"

Danzou nodded, one of his arms' eyes closing shut:

"No, I don't, and that's why I'm more fit for the charge of Hokage. Now, if you want to defend your friend, then I'll make you share their fate."

The Stealing Eye of Danzou's face turned into a four-pointed star, and Jiraiya began looking at the floor. He wasn't as stupid as to look him in the eye, and he had learned from Mighty Guy this way of fighting against a Stealing Eye. Danzou saw this and realized that the Toad Sage was ready to fight him and he decided not to take risks:

"Well, you can be considered immediately as a missing-ninja, Jiraiya, and I hope you have fun with the Desert Scorpion poison." Jiraiya growled: "Shizune! Sakura! We're heading back!"

Shizune and Sakura stood firm, interrupting everything they were doing to save Tsunade and, like hypnotized, started walking behind Danzou. Jiraiya saw them leave and could do nothing to awaken them: they were as good as dead. He called:

"Gamahiro!! Let's move! We must heal Tsunade somehow!"

The green giant toad extended his tongue to him, and as he carried Tsunade carefully, he jumped over Gamahiro's head and asked him to jump away. The hypnotized Shizune and Sakura cried as they walked, again under the influence of the Kaleidoscope Eyes.

Naruto was crying sour tears as he crumbled down to his knees, and both his parents got close to him. Minato spoke first:

"Naruto, please, try to understand our predicament as we're trying to understand yours..."

Kushina replied:

"If I were alive and well, I could kick those bastards' asses repeatedly until they had no butts left!!"

Naruto smirked at the thought and at his mother's rebellious thought, yet Minato continued:

"We were on a really terrible situation. Your mother here, Kushina Uzumaki, was bearing the Nine-Tails inside her before you were born, and her seal weakened when she gave birth to you. A masked Uchiha bastard took control of her as she gave birth and unleashed her seal, also dividing the Tailed Beast's energy and unleashing the Yang one over the village in order to kill everyone. We did what we could before we died, and we tried to make of you a hero..."

Minato cried a single tear as Kushina replied:

"...yet we had to learn from you that we ended up making of you a monster, at least to the eyes of the villagers..." Kushina kneeled down and threw her arms and face to the ground: "Please, my son, forgive us..."

Minato kneeled and bowed as well, and Naruto saw their honest pain as they sobbed. He couldn't find it in his heart to keep complaining at them and hugged them, clinging to them as if there was no tomorrow. The surprised parents were happy in the end, as Naruto could learn his true legacy in the end. Minato asked:

"And, how are you doing now, my son? How does the Leaf treat you?"

Naruto replied:

"I'm not a Leaf ninja anymore; the Pervy Sage took me to the Hidden Whirlpool Village, and now they asked me to ask you for something."

Kushina cried still:

"My sister, my father, have you met them?" Naruto nodded with a smile: "Great. Now, what did they want you to ask us?"

"Basically, where is the Fox's Yin energy, so they can seal it inside me as well."

Both nodded, knowing that this might be their last thing to do for Naruto. Minato said, looking at the Fox:

"Lord Kurama, how would you like to be in full control over yourself again?"

The Nine-Tailed Fox, named Kurama, simply replied:

 **"You condemn me to prison, you seal me inside a jackass boy, and now, after seventeen years of both making me and him suffer, you claim to want to help me? You think too much of yourself, Fourth Hokage!"**

Kushina was a bit more harsh:

"Do you want your Yin energy back or not?"

Kurama growled and nodded, and Minato said:

"We shall use our last energy left to attract Kurama's Yin energy back to you, my son; perhaps this time lord Kurama might not be so harsh with you and stump your growth."

Kushina nodded and said:

"Please, tell my sister and my father that I love them a lot, brat. After this, you won't see us again, so you might consider this our last gift to you."

Naruto saw them for the last time and said:

"I... I finally know who you are... and I... I love you... dad, mom..."

Minato smiled and said:

"Never forget who you are, Naruto..."

Kushina replied with a grin:

"Kick everyone's asses out there and give them one for me!"

Naruto nodded at them:

"I'll do that... goodbye, and thanks..."

End of Episode 11


	12. 12 - Red Eyes and Snakes (and 5)

**12 - Red Eyes and Snakes (and 5)**

A week had passed, and Itachi waited, along with Kisame, outside the Uchiha training grounds. The shark swordsman said, a bit bored:

"Hey, Itachi, are you sure the brat will come?"

Itachi nodded:

"He wants me dead, so yeah..." He looked at the skies and noticed how the clouds became darker: "Actually, he's about to arrive..."

Kisame looked at him and said:

"I truly hope this gets solved in the end. I kind of enjoyed your company, after all."

Itachi nodded and walked away from him, heading to the enormous building with the red and white fan:

"Please, send him in when he arrives, alone. Do not let anyone else enter, not even from us, until we're done."

Kisame chuckled evilly:

"Heh! After all, I'll have something to do now! Very good!"

Itachi walked away as Kisame began warming up with his giant blade.

Sasuke walked towards the Uchiha training grounds, the seal in his neck hurting and moving like desperate. _'Damn snake! Keep shut and don't bother me now!'_

He heard inside his head:

"Now is when I'm going to bother you, Sasuke! You broke our deal, and now you're going to need me!"

Sasuke drew a throwing dagger and pinched the seal a bit, dripping some blood:

"You'll leave me alone, Orochimaru!"

The Snake Legendary Ninja stopped bothering for a while, and Sasuke kept walking.

Danzou walked back ro the Hidden Leaf Village, covering his right arm and his right side of the face as he did. Shizune and Sakura kept walking behind him, completely numb. He turned back to them and nodded:

"You two will face trial once we head back to the Hidden Leaf for treason. Did you understand?"

Shizune and Sakura kept weeping, deep inside a perpetual nightmare. Shizune saw over and over the deaths of her teammates, dying in her hands as she couldn't save them, them blaming her for that. Sakura, on her behalf, suffered her own nightmare, being raped by Sasuke and then by Naruto, while her best friends Ino and Hinata mocked at her. Danzou knew that he had them controlled, and so he had a safe return home, with two medics that could attend him with a simple thought.

Jiraiya and Tsunade rode over Gamahiro, who teleported them to the Toad Nation, meeting two elder toads that looked like puppets with huge loads of energy. Jiraiya called:

"Lord Fukasaku! Lady Shima! We need your help!!"

Both saw Tsunade turning pale, her eyes turning yellow, and immediately recognized what was wrong:

"Desert Scorpion poison!"

"Jump here! We'll handle that!"

Jiraiya jumped and followed the two smaller yet elder toads and said:

"That bastard Danzou used his puppet ninjas to stab her with Desert Scorpion poison, and then they hipnotized Shizune and Sakura, so they wouldn't be able to heal her."

Shima growled:

"You humans won't learn..."

Fukasaku replied:

"Come to the Elder Sage's cave! He'll know what to do!"

Both toads jumped to Jiraiya's shoulders and focused their energy onto his body, his face turning like a half-toad version of himself, and he began leaping like a toad, arriving to mount Myouboku in some leaps.

The Masked Man wasn't feeling steady, as he knew that something wasn't exactly right. He sat on his litter and began to think:

"This isn't right... Itachi and Sasuke shouldn't be fighting yet... and this feeling I've got in my gut..."

He decided to stand up and walk down the cave.

As he reached the huge imprisoned statue where the Tailed Beasts' monstrous energy was being accumulated, he suddenly noticed that something was leaving it, and had been leaving it for quite some time. Shocked, he immediately recognized what that was and he activated his Stealing Eye:

"You're not taking _that one_ away!!"

He began to focus and his only uncovered eye turned into a three-pointed star with edges going towards the pupil. He immediately armed a hand seal and began a tug-of-war that he _had_ to win.

On the Hidden Whirlpool village, the nine elders and the Uzukage were witness of the sudden chmge of direction of the Nine-Tails' chakra, and a bluish-white-haired woman claimed:

"We're losing it! We must act!"

Gendou nodded and looked at Aiko, who stood up and bolted towards Naruto. She armed twelve hand seals like the lightning and then her hands glowed in silver. She laid her hahands on Naruto and said:

"Give me your energy now! This guy isn't just playing tug-of-war, and if I'm careless, whoever is doing this will find us! I'll channel it through Naruto and help him!"

Everyone was acting quickly, and when Hinata was about to do it, Aiko looked at her with seriousness and said:

"I need you inside Naruto's mindscape! I need your eyes and your skills in order to help us channel our energy better and not waste it!"

Hinata was nervous. She didn't know what to do, but it was Naruto's life that was at stake. She got serious and said:

"Please, you guys tell me what to do and I'll do it as best as I can!"

Hinata laid her hand on Naruto's seal and her consciousness jumped directly towards the sewers.

Danzou had arrived to a clearing where he decided that he was clear to rest. He got close to a river and drank some water, but then he noticed a change in its color, so as in its taste, and he knew what was going on. When he turned around, he saw aa couple of wrathful ladies who deposited on the water he drank from the river the blood with desert scorpion poison they could extract from Tsunade:

"Bastards!! You-"

Danzou began losing his strength, and Shizune began using her steel threads to trap him, while Sakura, completely taken by the rage she felt on her insides, charged all of her energy in her fist and beat his chest, actually breaking his sternum and wounding his heart and lungs:

"W-Why?! Why didn't you- *cough* keep u-under my mind control?"

Shizune said:

"Our devotion to lady Tsunade is more powerful than our fear and hatred towards you..."

Sakura said:

"And if I have to protect Sasuke and Naruto from you, then I'll do whatever it takes!"

Sakura gave him the final blow, and the great commander of the parallel ANBU ROOT corps, had finally died by his own villagers...

Sasuke arrived to the Uchiha training grounds, and Tsuki, who followed him in the parallel dimension, stepped beyond, quick to meet Hinoki and Kokerui. Kisame received Sasuke and said:

"You're Itachi's little brother, am I right?"

Sasuke couldn't care less about him, even when he was obviously powerful:

"Let me in; I must kill that bastard."

Kisame chuckled as he let him through, and Sasuke passed. As he reached the huge training arena, he saw his brother, wearing the black overcoat with red clouds, and simply drew his blade:

"Have you come with the eyes I've got, Sasuke?"

"I don't need them! I can kill you without using my eyes!"

Sasuke charged his electric energy into the blade and threw a first attack on Itachi, who activated his Stealing Eyes and immediately dodged his attack with ease. Suddenly, before Sasuke could react, Itachi had him pinned against a wall, hanging by the neck, as he looked at his eyes, the Kaleidoscope activated, and he began to relive all of his nightmare as Itachi's right eye focused on his eyes, but this time it added him extra images:

"Wha-What's this?!"

Kisame was already stretching up when he detected a massive amount of chakra that he recognised:

"Ha! Fun has finally arrived!"

He then grabbed his huge sword and dug it on the ground with a single blow, causing Zetsu to come out of the earth:

"Kisame, what are you doing?!"

Kisame grinned:

"Zetsu; I've been waiting to fight you for quite some time..."

Zetsu's black side spoke:

 _"Do you want to disobey our lord?"_

"No, I just want to fight someone of my own level for once. Will you entertain me?"

The white Zetsu spoke:

"Our Lord has ordered to keep a watchful eye on Itachi and Sasuke's battle, we're ordered to get the winner and the loser's corpse as soon as possible."

Kisame drew his sword from the floor:

"And Itachi asked me not to let anyone pass, so there is a conflict of interests... and I want to have fun..."

The black Zetsu said, upset:

"You'll have to answer to our boss then..."

"I always do, even before you were born..."

Zetsu got upset and jumped towards Kisame, beginning the fight.

Inside the Uchiha training grounds, in the parallel dimension, Hinoki and Kokerui were dealing with Hagane's curse mark, having a real bad time with it. Tsuki arrived and asked:

"Is it so bad?!"

Hagane claimed:

"Orochimaru is desperate and anxious! He wants to come out and draw both Sasuke and .Itachi's Stealing Eyes! I cannot endure it any longer!"

Tsuki grabbed his body and helped Hinoki and Kokerui, who was terribly concerned. Sasuke, meanwhile, was trapped in the new images.

Itachi appeared in his 13-year-old self speaking to Tsuki and her mother, the morning before the massacre:

"Ms. Satou, I know you've seen the same I see, and I know you disagree with it. You two should leave to this address; tell these words when you arrive and you'll be safe. Tsuki will have to return sooner, so I've talked to my allies in there to train her, and also talked to my partners in ANBU to receive and train her when she's nine."

"What will you do, Itachi?"

"I must take care of the threat posed by the masked man that has been gathering with my father and the elders, but this man has already made his plans work like a clockwork, degrading the position of the Clan with each proposal he gives, growing the contempt in our ranks, and now planning this coup d'etat against the Hokage."

"But, this ANBU ROOT commander has his eyes set on our eyes, and already took Shisui's right eye."

"I've got his left eye, as he gave it to me. I can actually counter any of Danzou's insidious tactics. Yet, I am worried that I'll have to give Danzou what he wants..."

"Even Sasuke?"

"No, I won't give them Sasuke, and that's where Tsuki must help me. I must make Sasuke realize that the path of Madara Uchiha, the path our Clan has been taking for gathering power for a century or two, is wrong, and I want him to associate it with me, so he should be clever enough to not follow it. I need Tsuki to become strong and to become his mentor, away from the masked man's influence; Sasuke will live."

"I'm really sorry that you have to do this, Itachi..."

"I cannot say no to this, but I hope you can help me make Sasuke understand, and help me make him follow the true path..."

Sasuke was crying and suffering, not believing what was true and what was fake. Itachi jumped backwards, as Sasuke unwillingly made the Curse Mark's first transformation:

"I don't believe you! You want to confuse me and then kill me!"

Sasuke began to spit huge fireballs, but then Itachi opened his left eye, and the black flames of Amaterasu showed up, eating Sasuke's flames and burning his mutated wings:

"Your hatred is leading your actions and you don't think! You desire these eyes still, but look at what they do to you-"

Itachi began to cry and cough blood, and Sasuke could see a chance to attack, but the Tsukuyomi illusion captured him again, and he images he saw were different this time...

Naruto, Minato and Kushina were dealing with the tug-of-war inside the seal, when Hinata arrived. She was shocked to see the Fourth Hokage and his girlfriend there, losing their struggle against the unknown force that pulled the Nine-Tails away. Naruto claimed:

"Hinata! What are you doing here?!"

Hinata closed her eyes and asked:

"What should I do? T-They're losing the struggle!"

The voice of Kaori spoke at her head:

"Activate your white eyes, please, and tell me what you see."

Hinata nodded and activated her White Eyes, and saw how the struggle quickly spent the adults' energy:

"The struggle is wearing the Fourth Hokage and his girlfriend out very quickly!"

"Well, I need you to focus. Feel our energy?" Hinata nodded: "Let it flow through you, don't try and repress it, and use it to beat their backs, where the heart should be, now!"

Hinata felt a scary amount of power and jumped towards Kushina, claiming as she beat her:

"I-I'm sorry, my lady!"

She then did it to Minato and then to Naruto, begging forgiveness as she did. Kaori then said:

"Now, enter the seal and do it to lord Kurama!"

"To who?"

"To lord Kurama, the Fox! Do it now!"

A scared Hinata got close to the seal and Minato, who already felt the rush of energy flowing through him, asked:

"What are you doing, Hinata?!"

"The Uzukage and the Whirlpool Elders ask me to give l-lord Kurama the same treatment as you, lord Hokage!"

Minato nodded and said:

"Do it quickly, but I'll have to seal the gate if the Fox turns too uncontrollable!"

Hinata nodded and took the seal off, feeling the burning and exaggeratedly massive energy of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Hinata felt how she began to interact with this huge amount of energy, understanding how Naruto could have felt during all his childhood and teenage years. She couldn't control the huge amounts of energy that entered and left her, and suddenly her eyes turned silver. As she got closer, her eyes turned golden. The suffering Fox asked in a growl:

 **"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING HERE, PETTY LITTLE GIRL?! YOU'RE SEARCHING FOR DEATH?!"**

Hinata, gathering courage for Naruto, said:

"Allow me to do this, lord Kurama, please! All I want is to reform your energy circulation to let you get some help!"

The Fox simply yelled:

 **"THEN DO IT!! DO IT NOW OR YOU'LL DIE!!"**

Hinata saw how the Fox laid on the floor, and she quickly jumped to its back. When she found its heart, she focused all the energy she had, the one she received from the now twelve elders, the Uzukage and his wife, and Kaji, and the massive energy she received from Kurama, and she threw a Gentle Fist, hitting the Fox's heart. Immediately, Kurama felt the sudden charge of energy, even when it was minimal compared to his own, but the intention and the way it circled inside him made him feel more efficient. He tossed a fainted Hinata away from the cage and yelled:

 **"Now you'll see, Uchiha bastard!"**

The masked man felt then how the tug-of-war turned back against him, and he couldn't endure it any longer. He fainted, his uncovered eye bleeding profusely, and the energy abandoned the statue.

Everyone inside Naruto was finally seeing the change in Kurama's energy signature, and when Hinata awakened, she did it between Naruto's arms, seeing Minato and Kushina, and seeing a huge, red and silver fox who looked at her with respect:

"Hinata! That was the craziest thing I've ever seen anyone do! You're marvellous!!"

"Thanks for your help, young Hyūga!"

"Thanks, girl! Naruto, if you don't date this girl I'll demand the Death God to kick your ass!"

Naruto winced and Hinata blushed deep red, but Naruto replied:

"She's my girlfriend, mom! Don't bother her, please!"

Everyone laughed, and then Kurama said, his voice still terrifying:

 **"You Hyūga girl have done something that I'll never forget..."** Everyone got scared and in fighting stance: **"You have saved me from the bastard who tried to steal my energy and kill this brat. I owe you one favor, and I demand you to ask me how to repay it."**

Hinata had a huge responsibility in her hands. She didn't know what to do, and both Minato and Kushina looked at her with shock in their faces. Hinata stuttered, but then Naruto grabbed her hand and nodded at her, smiling and reassuring her. She finally stood up and said:

"L-Lord Kurama... I would like to ask you, um, to help in Naruto's growth as a ninja, instead of disturbing his attempts... um, I think he's more u-useful to you as a strong and capable man than how you have him now... p-please..."

Hinata even kneeled and bowed before the huge fox, and he grinned:

 **"Very well... your words make sense, even more now that my siblings are being captured by these weirdoes... I'll help the brat from now on, if he respects me properly like you do, girl..."**

Naruto understood what this meant. Kurama's voice was terrible, but not anymore filled with killer intent; perhaps was someone more reasonable now, and perhaps he could treat ot more respectfully. As both him and Hinata nodded, Kurama said:

 **"Good. You both now are under my care; say goodbye to your parents, Naruto."**

Hinata blushed at the sight of Naruto hugging his legendary parents: the Yellow Flash and the Crimson Death of the Leaf, and as they disappeared, Hinata extended her hand to him, still shyly, and Naruto ran to hold her tight. The fox said:

 **"Well then, it's time for you to go back. I'm tired of seeing you two."**

Sasuke saw the scenes where the masked man convinced every member of his family into preparing a coup d'etat against the Third Hokage, and how Tsuki's father was murdered in that last meeting for opposing them all. He then saw how his own father hoped that Itachi would kill the Hokage and the Elders, not even caring about Sasuke and his 'slow growth'; they even considered having Sasuke as replacement eyes for Itachi. Yet, Itachi spared him and killed everyone else, and the night before he abandoned the Hidden Leaf village, he was crying...

Sasuke was wrathful, and he finally let go of his curse mark, releasing a huge eight-headed white snake. Itachi, coughing, began to focus his energy.

Meanwhile, Kisame and Zetsu were fighting asas the huge snake broke the ceiling and revealed itself. The white Zetsu warned:

"This was what we had to see! Stop this foolishness, Kisame!"

 _"You don't want to face our boss after I tell him what you did."_

Kisame, seeing the thing, growled and said:

"Ok, that's enough. Let's see the-"

From inside the training grounds, another eight-headed giant white snake appeared:

"What the hell is that?!"

Both powerful ninjas jumped and ran towards the battle.

Hagane hadn't been able to control the Curse Mark and released a huge white snake with eight heads, just like Sasuke did. Actually, Sasuke was scared when he saw the second snake, and how Orochimaru came out from both snakes' mouths, as if he was cloned:

"Delicious! I'll have the eyes of both Uchiha kids, and I'll possess all the techniques in the world!"

Sasuke was shocked, not only because of his own giant snake, but because the sudden apparition of a Hidden Sound ninja who was also releasing his curse mark on this battlefield. Tsuki, Kokerui and Hinoki didn't know what to do, yet they knew that, if they abandoned the parallel dimension, they'd be discovered and murdered, becoming a danger to their Hidden Village. Hagane was alone, and he knew it. He looked at where Kokerui was, and he drew seven large lead needles:

"I'll do this and finally be at peace... goodbye..."

Kokerui cried sour tears as she saw Hagane nail his own needles in his heart, immediately pulsing his energy to them. As he did, his body turned into lead, very quickly, and in few seconds his eight-headed snake turned into lead. The Orochimaru that came out of it also turned into lead, cursing Hagane loudly as he did.

Itachi lowered his head in pain and prepared, as Sasuke's Orochimaru drew the legendary Kusanagi sword from his mouth, ready for battle. He coughed as he began to bleed through his eyes again, and hia energy generated a huge armored warrior god that Sasuke recognized:

"Susano'o..."

Susano'o, the almighty God of the Seas, had his shield and the legendary Totsuka blade in his hands, and a terrible battle began between them. Itachi's quick degeneration and Sasuke's physical and spiritual weakness wore them out, but in the end Susano'o could pierce Orochimaru's body with his blade, destroying the eight-headed snake and the curse mark on Sasuke's neck. Itachi was incapable of keeping Susano'o active anymore, and so he returned to his blood-coughing, quickly dying self. Sasuke was paralyzed, scared as hell, seeing Itachi get closer to him:

"No... s-stop... no..."

Zetsu and Kisame arrived to see this final part of the battle, as a dying Itachi arrived towards a scared Sasuke. He raised his bloody fingers, looked at him in the eyes, and his own eyes turned cerulean, the same shape as his triangular Kaleidoscope, but white, and as he touched Sasuke's forehead, pulsing energy into his brain, he whispered:

"I'm done with the 'bad brother'... come with me and let's grow together in peace..."

Sasuke felt the stinging pain in his head, Itachi's eyes as blue as Tsuki's, and he blacked out...

Outside, Kisame and Zetsu were shocked as hell, as both Uchiha brothers vanished like thin air, not a single trace left. Now, these were terrible news...

End of Episode 12


	13. 13 - Reckoning

**13 - Reckoning**

The Toad Elder, king of the Toads, had the poisoned and wounded Tsunade in front of her, Jiraiya and the elder toads Fukasaku and Shima active in her healing. The elder toad sage looked at her and knew that he couldn't waste time, so he grabbed oil from the fountain and fed Tsunade with it. Jiraiya, worried, asked:

"Why are you feeding her that, Elder Sage?"

The Elder Sage said:

"The oil from Myouboku fountains is commonly used to train the natural energy use and your well-known Sage mode, but it has lots of properties. It serves as an antidote for many poisons and diseases, including the desert scorpion poison. It'll take her a week to make effect."

Jiraiya nodded and saw how Tsunade was not only fed with the oil, but also was ointed with it in her wounds. Shima got close to him and said:

"Do not worry, young Jiraiya; she'll be fine in our hands. Go back and warn the Leaf about Tsunade's situation; they'll need a Hokage."

Jiraiya growled:

"The wicked elders replaced her with Danzou before this treacherous move; we're no longer Leaf ninjas."

Fukasaku shook his head:

"Something tells me that the Leaf will need you right now. You better go."

Jiraiya knew bettet than opposing a direct suggestion from the elder toads, so he bid them farewell and caressed Tsunade's face with tenderness:

"My old friend, don't you dare to die on me! I'll be back soon!"

Kisame and Zetsu were like crazy, trying to search for Itachi and Sasuke. Zetsu tried to use his senses and the contact with the earth to find them, while Kisame used his nose to try and detect their blood. Yet, there were no traces away from the Uchiha training grounds: they simply vanished in thin air. White Zetsu said:

"This is really wrong..."

 _"Our boss won't like this..."_

Kisame saw a tree branch and said:

"I'm afraid this isn't the only bad news, look."

Zetsu turned to see where Kisame looked and found the orange-masked man, his stance revealing his lack of energy, his mask revealing blood that dripped from the only eye it had. He spoke with a serious voice:

"We must reunite immediately. Emergency meeting."

Both nodded and followed him.

On the parallel dimension, Kokerui and Tsuki carried a fainted Sasuke, while Hinoki carried a worn-out Itachi. They ran like there was no tomorrow, as both Uchiha had to enter the Hidden Whirlpool Village before anyone decided to try anything stupid. The mood in the three girls was particularly depressed: Kokerui had lost one more precious person in her life, with Hagane's death, Hinoki had to see Itachi suffer all that pain just to heal his brother, and Tsuki was sad, as she practically failed her mission as Sasuke's conscience's voice and had forced Itachi to this extent for saving him.

When Naruto and Hinata woke up, both felt really different. Gendou and Aiko looked at him and realized the same:

"How do you feel, kid?"

"Nnh, it feels weird, gramps, as if my whole body felt different..."

Kaori's eyes turned white and said:

"The energy from the Fox is healing your circulatory system and strengthening it..." When she turned to Hinata, she said: "...and it opened your energy nodes and channels as well, to a point I've never seen in any Hyūga before. Did something happen in there that you can recall, Hinata?"

Hinata was still going through the thrilling, fearsome experience, yet she answered:

"L-Lord..." Hinata doubted for a second, but then she corrected: "The Fox's energy... it felt like burning at first... it messed with my own energy... it made me see energy nodes and physical details at first, then mental and emotional states; after that, it made me see major feelings, and then something that I c-cannot explain... I could see the Fox as it truly was, on its whole, just for a few moments..."

Kaji was surprised:

"She passed through the whole stages of the Eyes of the Truth, our bloodline trait, in a few moments, thanks to the Fox's energy... and yet he didn't exactly hurt her..."

Kaori nodded:

"That's correct. Now, you kids, I'd like to introduce you to the village's circle of elders, represented by representatives of each of our twelve Clans."

Gendou nodded and said:

"This is Akiko, from the Clan Uchiha of the Heaven and Hell; there is Kaori, from the Clan Hyūga of the Light; this is Kobushi, from the Clan Senjū of the Trees; this is Hideki, from the Clan Nara of the Shadows; this is Yasuo, from the Clan Yamanaka of the Mind; this is Chousei, from the Clan Akimichi of the Body; this is Takezou, from the Clan Uzumaki of the Life Force; this is Aoki, from the Clan Kouga of the Weapons; this is Jin, from the Clan Iga of the Elements; this is Maki, from the Clan E of the Colors; this is Tsubaki, from the Clan Yamada of the Gems; and this Yamaneko, from the Clan Toranaga of the Animals." As Naruto and Hinata bowed before them and they did as well, Gendou said: "You know already that we have twelve Clans in here, kids. Welcome to the Hidden Whirlpool village; from now you'll be prepared in your own compounds to enter the Ninja Academy and become Genin under our standards, which could be like a high Chūnin or a low Jounin out there. You may leave now."

A messenger arrived to the office:

"Lord Uzukage, the retrieval team arrived. Sasuke and Itachi were reunited and have arrived to our gates, both unconscious. Hagane Tsuchi of the Hidden Sound was lost in the mission."

Everyone nodded at the news, and Gendou said:

"Let them inside, and ask Tsuki to make a full report, please. Akiko, attend them well, please; the Uchiha kid will need lots of help."

Akiko nodded, and everyone left the hall.

In the cave with the imprisoned statue, the masked man gathered with Pain, Kisame, Zetsu, Hidan, Kakuzu and other four. The masked man, whose appearance in these meetings was new, simply wasn't that surprising. He noticed that the present ones also noticed that something was wrong. A blond man with mouths in his hands asked:

"There's a missing member here; where's the Uchiha?"

Kisame spoke:

"Missing, Deidara..." Everyone turned to see him, different reactions in the presents' faces. "He and his brother Sasuke vanished right in front of our faces."

Zetsu nodded' the black half speaking:

 _"I couldn't trace his energy, neither on earth nor on air..."_

Then, a serious blue-haired lady said:

"The statue... someone in there is missing..."

The masked man replied:

"Someone has found a part of the Nine-Tailed Beast's energy I had stored in this statue, and has stolen it from us. I still cannot understand how it happened, or why, but I could recover a single trace of it. Yet, it's not enough..."

Everyone began to mumblle and talk in low voice, and the masked man yelled:

"Enough!!" Everyone shut up: "The plan is the same, but this time we will have to raise the stakes."

A man whose body seemed like a turtle shell asked:

"And, how is that?"

"Quite simple, Sasori: what Hidan just did to the Hidden Grass village, we'll do it to the major Hidden Villages; we'll capture the resting Tailed Beasts and leave no other ninja or warrior than ourselves. No one will oppose us..." The masked man was already savoring his vengeance: "... and I'll lay my hands on the Nine-Tails myself..."

Everyone nodded at those words as if they were a direct command, and the blue-haired lady asked:

"And, where shall we start?"

The masked man was quick in his decision:

"We shall begin with the Hidden Leaf; if the Nine-Tails is there, I'll fight it myself!"

Shizune and Sakura finally arrived at the village, and there was Kakashi, the one-eyed, silver-haired Leaf Jounin, waiting for them in the closed gates. A shocked Sakura, who had murdered a fellow villager and recently named Hokage in a rush of wrath, was paler than usual, and Kakashi noticed it:

"Where is Tsunade?"

Sakura began to cry and Shizune spoke:

"Danzou and his ANBU ROOT agents poisoned her; Jiraiya took her away, we don't know where."

Kakashi nodded, always cool:

"And Danzou?"

Sakura fell on her knees, her gloves stained in blood:

"I... I-I..."

Kakashi scrubbed her pink hair:

"I understand, Sakura. Do not say anything."

In that moment, Jiraiya appeared and met everyone in there:

"Tsunade is recovering right now; you shouldn't worry about her. What about Danzou?"

Kakashi said:

"He's done for; or at least that seems to be the case. What's going on?"

Jiraiya said, his face as serious as he had never been:

"I'm pretty sure that something terrible is about to happen to our village, yet I'm not sure what it'll be."

Kakashi nodded:

"I can sense some disturbances with my left eye, and I truly don't like when that happens..."

Shizune said, concerned:

"Shall we prepare our defenses?"

Jiraiya shook his head

"No. Make everyone flee. We shall gather at these coordinates immediately. Go and warn everyone, but don't make it too evident." Before they left, he said: "And bring me here the clan head of the Nara and the old Ino-Shika-Chou trio right away."

In the Senjū compound, Kokerui was crying once again, and many of the Senjū around her didn't know what to say to her anymore. Hinoki was one to approach her this time:

"I... I don't want this anymore..."

Hinoki simply hugged her with a protective attitude and said:

"Come with me, please. Let's see lord Kobushi; he might have something that could help you."

Kokerui slowly nodded and followed her older cousin towards the room of the elder Kobushi, an old man with rather sweet eyes and a calm expression looked at her and said:

"You have lose someone dear to you again... I don't need you to speak your heart, because your face says it all..." Kokerui broke in tears, and after a while, Kobushi said: "Yet, do not worry. The orphan tree won't be alone anymore, and from now on she'll only gain more and more people that will truly love her..." Kokerui looked at him with denying eyes, like pleading him to stop: "It'll all begin real soon, and will last your whole life..."

End of Episode 13


	14. 14 - The Storm Begins

**14 - The Storm Begins**

Shikamaru remembered his first meeting with Ino and Chouji in the Hidden Whirlpool. She was skinny, depressed and silent. Chouji, on the other side, could barely stand on his feet, weak and fat. On his own behalf, he felt how his emotions, especially the deepest ones, played him bad moves, and he felt unbalanced and out of focus for his usual strategic thinking.

But after this last week, he had been toughly guided by his new master, a gorgeous and terribly clever lady called Nanashika Nara, and he had learned a huge lot of things.

At first, he had learned about the great possibilities he could gather from the shadows now, and slowly he had to learn about their representation inside his own soul. The most difficult part for him was to be able to express other emotions different than boredom and bother, even when they were deep inside his soul, and only then, after 'interesting' psychological sessions, he was capable of releasing his emotions, even when his rational mind used to prevail still... but now he felt in a new state of balance, and he didn't lose it if somehow his tactical and strategic thinking failed...

Right now, as he had already started his training with his new family, Shikamaru had come out of his Clan compound and decided to walk around and know the streets; after all, a good ninja couldn't be unaware of his own city.

As he walked down, he got to a park and threw himself on the grass, seeing the sky and the clouds... his only real hobby...

"Um, excuse me..."

Shikamaru had to cover his eyes a bit to see the beautiful female figure that stood beside him:

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Mind if I lay down on the grass as well?"

"Serve yourself; it's a public park, right?"

As the beautiful dark-violet-haired girl in green short dress sat beside him and finally laid on he grass, she said:

"Well, this is the Nara park, so I actually need permission to enter."

Shikamaru turned to see her, blushed, her tanned skin matching strangely with her amber eyes:

"Well, no worries then. Be my guest. And you are..."

The teenage girl eye-smiled:

"Sayuri, from Clan Yamada..."

"Shikamaru, home club..."

 _''Home club?' What kind of a horrendous joke is that?'_ Shikamaru was about to crumble when he noticed that Sayuri was giggling softly:

"Nice to meet you..."

"And, what brings you here, Sayuri?"

Sayuri blushed again:

"Um, well, I just like to see the deer round this place; it's the only place where you can see them roam around without the villagers complaining about them..." She lowered her head and asked, ashamed: "The truth is, I'm in hiding right now..."

In the Hidden Leaf, Kakashi, Shizune and Sakura were already warning the Jounin ranks of the situation and began giving a major warning to the rest of the ninjas, prior to warning the civilians. The job was hard and had to be done immediately.

Outside, Jiraiya met with Hiashi Hyūga, Shikaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka and Chouza Akimichi. The four clan patriarchs were expectant, anxious to hear what the Toad Sage had to say. He simply began:

"You four are the only ones who know about Naruto's location inside the village, and I truly hope this keeps being like this."

Inoichi shook his head:

"All we've been told is that his location was X-ranked."

Hiashi said:

"I was told about Hinata, not about the Demon Brat."

Jiraiya shook his head and breathed deep:

"Well, let me inform you, so you all will be aware. Hinata and your children are together, along with Naruto. They all reached a secret place, where they'll be training under special masters; Hiashi knows of it, and you'll learn it now, but first, follow me."

Jiraiya made hand seals and everyone disappeared.

"I'm being hidden by my parents. If you could please come with me and try to talk to the Uzukage about this..."

Shikamaru asked as he got up:

"Ok, let's go, but, why do you need me to go with you?"

Sayuri was sad and felt obviously sorry for the situation:

"I... I cannot talk to lord Uzukage alone, or I'll be executed..."

Shikamaru helped her up and both kept walking:

"But, did you do something so wrong that deserves you death?"

"No... let me just tell you what's going on. Do you have any safe place?"

Shikamaru nodded and said:

"Yes, if you don't fear the dark."

Sayuri giggled a bit among her sadness and shook her head; Shikamaru led her to a building's shadow and armed a couple of hand seals he had learned, then he put his hands over the shadow and crossed it, finally dragging Sayuri with him.

In mount Myouboku, the four patriarchs met with Jiraiya, the elder toads and a slowly-healing Tsunade, aided by Katsuyu, the slug queen. Jiraiya led them to her and said:

"Ok, Tsunade, if you feel better now, then I think it is time for them to know the whole truth."

Tsunade noticdd how, even in such serious moments like this one, Jiraiya kept looking at her huge bosom. She cracked her fist slowly and he realized what it meant, so he raised his sight and took two steps back. She said:

"I have been really hideous about the situation of your heirs because it has been a very sensitive one. Homura and Koharu have just relevated me from the Hokage position and have favoured Danzou, and I had to take out all of the information relevant to them and to their actual position."

Inoichi said:

"We just received information thar Danzou has been murdered... by your students... and both Ibiki and Anko have them under surveillance, by command of the elders. They blame you for treason to the village."

Tsunade growled, also due to the pain:

"Those bastards... all they care about is supremacy among villages when they don't even have an idea of what's going on outside." She recovered her breath and said: "But I guess that's a topic for other moment. For now, I must tell you that I have sent your children to the Hidden Whirlpool Village, and there they will be put under special training regimes, because what's coming is truly terrible..."

Shikaku thought for a while after the initial shock, calming his friends down:

"So, the rumours are true, and our orthodox lineages are still alive..."

"Yes, and both Naruto and Sasuke have been taken to them as well. The secrecy of their location is of extreme relevance, if you want them to stay alive, gentlemen."

Jiraiya added:

"I am not sure about the reason why they were requested to the Hokage, but now the Hidden Villages are facing a major threat in this moment. The group known as Red Dawn is stealing the Human Sacrifices and extracting the Tailed Beasts' energy from them. We cannot protect Naruto from them, as one of those sacrifices tried to hide in the Hidden Grass Village and not only was captured by just one of the Red Dawn membera, but also the whole Hidden Village was left as a ghost town in less than a minute. I saw it myself."

Hiashi lowered his head:

"And I pretended to send Hinata there..."

Chouza replied, upset:

"Simply, only one of them was capable of killing everyone inside a minor hidden village... how many are them?"

Jiraiya replied:

"They were twelve, but Orochimaru was dumped by them and Itachi died, so they're ten."

Inoichi claimed:

"This means that they'd need only three or four of them to destroy us..."

"Yes, and they're setting up to destroy the major hidden villages, as they have the human sacrifices, so they'll be on the run together."

Hiashi asked:

"And, what are we doing about it?"

"Every ninja in the village is assisting Kakashi in the evacuation of the population to the main hideout. All I care about right now is saving our people. I'll join as soon as we're done with this, and Tsunade will be there to lead the ranks when she's fully healed. Now, I'll take you back, and if you're somehow captured, by the enemy or the elders and the ROOT corps, you die without saying a word."

The four patriarchs nodded, realizing the risk they could bring to their children if they spoke.

Shikamaru nodded and said:

"I understand... So, basically, he's about to make a coup d'etat to your father and then to the own Uzukage... and this guy is your uncle?"

Sayuri nodded:

"Yes... my father fears what he can do to our Clan, due to the forbidden technique he has developed... and already used on ninjas of the Clans that he had captured and murdered outside the village..."

When they arrived to the Uzukage's office, a shocked Aiko ran to them and hid them:

"Do not even dare to move. Hide in the shadows if you can until I say so."

Shikamaru opened a Shadow Gate and hid Sayuri in it. Aiko intentionally left the door of the office slightly open, so they could listen to the conversation:

"Gendou Uzumaki, I told you I would return, and I've finally perfected my technique to challenge you... it works perfectly; you can ask your dearest son Kensuke..."

"Leave this place immediately, you bastard! Leave the village or I'll kill you myself!"

"When I set foot at home and become Patriarch, you won't be able to do anything against me, and I can even challenge you to become Uzukage... I'm still a Whirlpool ninja; laying a hand upon me will put you under a delicate situation as Uzukage..."

"When you leave this office, even if I die, you'll be expelled from our ranks and everyone here will hunt your head!"

"Better for me; I can raise my collection of Blood Gems... I'll be seeing you soon, Uzumaki, perhaps after I sell a Blood Gem with the Nine-Tails to the Red Dawn..."

Aiko growled, and Gendou seemed to leave the office like mad:

"Where is he now?!"

Shikamaru and Sayuri left the shadows and met the Hokage and Aiko:

"That was my uncle Chiseki, my lord!"

Gendou said:

"I know; that bastard must die!"

A beaten-up ANBU agent reached them:

"My lord! The Twelve Clans are reporting an invasion of Chiseki Yamada's shadow clones! Many are being transformed into gems and being used against their own! He already took out the ANBU headquarters-"

The ANBU agent began to retort, yelling painfully as he was compressed into a red-blood gem, which was captured by a clone of Chiseki Yamada, who smirked at them and left. Aiko growled, but Gendou said:

"I'll face him myself! You go and check that everyone else is safe! We cannot lose ninjas now!" He then turned to Sayuri: "Do you know of this technique?!"

Sayuri nodded:

"It's a forbidden technique that was suppressed from the Clan's teachings not five centuries ago. Its main goal is to transform a person into a gem and dispose of his energy and skills until he's depleted, using him as a discardable skill set..."

Gendou was even more and more furious:

"Is there any way to counter this skill?"

Sayuri shook her head:

"Not that I know, my lord; I've never heard or read of any Blood Gem user that had released an imprisoned 'material'..."

Gendou growled and said:

"Shikamaru Nara, Sayuri Yamada! You are not yet officially a Whirlpool ninja, but I commend you a mission right now!"

Shikamaru got serious and Sayuri froze a bit:

"What do we have to do, lord Uzukage?"

Gendou got close to them and told them something in secret, and when they finished listening to the command, they nodded and got close to the shadow they used to hide, diving inside it. Gendou looked at Aiko and said:

"The Yamada are a very dangerous clan, and this Chiseki is a bastard with so much power that he doesn't even need help to wreak havoc on our village. We must be careful."

Aiko asked, grabbing two short blades:

"I know of the Yamada and their gem skills, both physical and mental, and I also know of their great Earth skills, but what makes this guy so dangerous?"

Gendou spoke with anger:

"I know well the Blood Gems, Aiko, and I'm not surprised that Sayuri barely knew something about it. Chiseki was my teammate as Chūnin and Jounin, and I know how powerful his forbidden skill is. Do not let him capture you, or he'll transform you into a Blood Gem, and not even I will be able to liberate you..."

Aiko nodded, knowing what they were about to face. They prepared themselves and left the Uzukage tower, ready for battle.

In the hideout of the Imprisoned Statue, the men in black coats with red clouds met again, the orange-masked man took the lead this time. He said:

"My fellows, the time has come to declare war on the ninja world. We will start with the Hidden Leaf village and make of it an example to follow for the other villages. I want no one left alive, I want every single hideout, parallel base or emergency dwelling destroyed, I want the blood of the Leaf ninjas and villagers spread all over the debris of their homes, and I want the Nine-Tails in our graspgrasp, as I know he's around there somewhere. Then we'll get the rest of them."

Pain spoke:

"The time to make the world ours has started, and no one is going to stand in our way. We must leave no other ninja alive. No more senseless wars, only a peaceful rule with us as the new gods of the world."

The masked man nodded and said:

"Let's go! We have work to do!"

End of Episode 14


End file.
